Foreign Relations: Resurrection
by ghanimajade
Summary: Foreign Relations Part 3: Sidda has become the Lazarus Man and come back to life. Two years later the life she had is in ruins and now there's another threat to the galaxy that she has been tapped to stop. Suicide Mission aside there is still one thing she needs to deal with: Victus. Sidda/Victus, Cerrus/Tali, Garrus/OC, evolving tags. Mass Effect is owned by BioWare.
1. Chapter 1: Dear Diary

_**Note: Okay! Now we are going into my favorite game of them all. I love Mass Effect 2. :) As much as I love it I'm gonna change a bit and move some stuff around. Thank you to the reviews, favorites, and follows.**_

 _ **Please be patient with me as I juggle work and sleep. Rest assured loveable characters will return and my originals will have a bigger part.**_

 _ **This is a bit short but I didn't want to regurgitate the beginning of the game so I went my own way.**_

 _ **Please enjoy Part Three: Resurrection, Chapter One: Dear Diary**_

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Part Three: Resurrection**

 **Chapter One: Dear Diary**

" _Dear Diary, so…I've been dead for two years…yeah…no…Joker was wrong, it doesn't make it better saying it out loud. How's that for having bad luck? I remember the attack on the Normandy but not much else after that. Judging by the description of what happened I'm glad I don't remember it, I mean, I doubt I would have enjoyed the memory of planet fall."_ Sidda stopped the dictation and sighed, she stood in the middle of her quarters…apparently known as the loft to the crew who built it. A Cerberus crew…Sidda groaned at the thought. How could she be working with Cerberus now? That was just one of seven thousand questions she had. _"And then there's the ship…I mean the SR1 was nice but I gotta hand it to Cerberus…they know how to build a ship."_

The loft was far bigger than her quarters on the SR1; she even had a fish tank that was fully stocked with bright and colorful fish from several different worlds. She gave it a half smile and sighed heavily wandering over to the bathroom, her hair was the biggest thing to get used to. It hadn't been this short since boot camp; she didn't like the chin length bob since there wasn't enough to pull into a pony tail. She wasn't looking forward to trying to figure out how to put that into a helmet. _"And that's gonna take some time getting used to."_ She loved her hair long, sure it was a pain to braid and bun every morning but that had become routine over the years. She could do an inverted braid in the dark in under a minute now.

Her shrapnel scars from Elysium were missing and so were the scars from her surgeries on the Citadel. An unmarked body was new, she hadn't had that since Elysium when that grenade went off and sent pieces of stone and metal into her face. Sidda didn't feel like herself, she felt odd…almost fake.

" _This feels strange,"_ she went on before tearing herself away from the reflection and taking in her new quarters, _"not the new and improved version of me, although as seamless as I've been told it was, I still feel like the Bionic Woman. No…I mean the diary or journal entries. I didn't used to keep a diary but then again the Normandy didn't used to have a yeoman/counselor telling me I need to 'talk about it'. Chambers is okay, kind of, way too naïve but I guess that's a running theme for Cerberus. Guess it's not so bad though I'm pretty sure by the time I'm done with this I might just sound like a babbling idiot…should be fun to listen to at my court-martial when the Alliance gets their hands on me."_ She paused again and thought about that last comment. _"Can you court-martial a dead person?"_

" _Technically, you never left the military, Commander, so I believe the answer is: yes,"_ EDI chimed in and Sidda's brow furrowed at the 'helpful' AI.

"Thank you, EDI, please stop listening in," she replied. The AI was useful but it was disconcerting to know that she was constantly being watched.

" _Of course, Commander, Dr. Chakwas wishes to see you in the Medical Bay."_ The AI replied and Sidda sighed. Chakwas had sent her three messages to come down for a thorough check-up. Sidda was ignoring it. She ended the dictation and headed out.

* * *

She saw Chakwas, which was a surprise, and saw the scans of her 'new body'. It was disconcerting to realize that she had so much synthetic bone, muscle, and skin. It was equally disconcerting to see all the new cybernetics and biometrics that now were littered throughout her body. Chakwas and Joker joining Cerberus was even worse than realizing that she was a rebuilt model. Cerberus was a terrorist organization and now she was working with them, along with Chakwas and Joker.

"Have you tried using your biotics?" Chakwas asked and Sidda shook her head. "Be careful, it's an improved implant so it might not be what you are used to."

Sidda had been told that by Miranda, the architect of her new model. She was a little nervous about using her biotics again; she'd gone most of her life with the L3 implant and now she had an L5x. It was just one of the thousand things that was different. "Yeah, that's what Miranda said."

"She's right, you should be careful. Ideally you should test first before combat."

"What makes you think I'll be in combat?"

Chakwas' sideways look was amusing, no one would expect anything less for the woman who found combat around every corner. On leave, training, on a milk run…it didn't matter, trouble always found her. "What makes you think you won't, Commander?"

Sidda chuckled in response. "Change of pace."

* * *

" _Chakwas and Joker, there's two people I never thought would come over to the dark side and work for a terrorist organization. Joker says they grounded what was left of the Normandy crew after my and the SR1's untimely demise. Clearly the Alliance was still a little miffed about the theft of their prototype. Joker I would believe before Chakwas, Chakwas…that came out of left field. Still good to see people that I trust but something doesn't feel right. If Hackett or Anderson knew about this their heads' would explode."_

She flopped down on the bed, her mind went to Victus. What would he do if he saw her alive? Would he sweep her up in his arms or keep his distance with a distrustful look? Knowing Victus she banked on the latter. Cerrus would probably shoot her. Victus wouldn't go that far but she couldn't imagine what his state of mind was…the loss of another woman he loved. It probably sent him spiraling.

She shook the thoughts and cleared her throat, she didn't want to think about it, didn't want to think of Victus' reaction if it had been long enough for him get over her. _"Speaking of seeing people I trust, I found one in the oddest of places…little hole in the wall human colony called Freedom's Progress. Creepy as hell and ghost town save for a band of Quarians trying to save the colony's only survivor. Veetor…poor bastard. Tali took my reappearing act pretty well all things considered. Wasn't much time for small talk with the reprogrammed killer Mech trying to kill me and the idiotic combination of Jacob and Miranda trying to snatch the unhinged Quarian and run."_ She paused in the dictation as she flicked through things she'd missed while dead. A highlight reel Joker called it, one of many he'd given her. Vid's hadn't changed but there was a ridiculous series called Blasto, a spoof on her first human Spectre status. She shook her head with a snort of derision and continued. _"At least I know she's still alive and kicking, if she's still seeing Cerrus that accounts for the extra level of toughness."_

Sidda sighed heavily and cast the pad aside, she didn't know if it was dying or the fact that she was lonely but dictating a diary made her feel better.

With everything that was cluttering her mind she couldn't relax. Honestly, how could she? She'd woken up a week ago and found out that she had been dead for over two years. So much had changed, even the weapons, but that wasn't the worst part…she still wasn't sure how she was going to deal with Victus. Joker had told her the after effect of her 'death'.

Her mind was racing and she couldn't sit still so she ran, did sit ups, push-ups, pull ups, anything she could do to just take her mind off it all. It really didn't work; all she could think about was Victus. How was he? Did he still think about her? Thousands of other things went through her mind also and all of centered on him.

" _Are you distressed, Commander?"_ EDI asked as Sidda entered her quarters. Sidda had focused almost all of her nervous energy and unquiet mind on working out. It didn't help too much, her mind was still a hot mess train wreck of emotions, questions, and the coming to terms with being dead for two years.

She pulled the sweat soaked shirt off over her head and tossed it in the corner. The best thing about a long hard workout was the shower afterward. "I'm fine EDI," she replied.

" _You biometrics indicate a significant level of stress. Perhaps you should see Dr. Chakwas in the Medical Bay."_ The AI countered.

"EDI," Sidda warned as she collected some clean off duty clothes for after the shower. "I said I'm fine and stop scanning me."

" _Operative Lawson instructed me to take regular scans to ensure there are no ill effects of the Lazarus Project."_

"Operative Lawson can kiss my ass, EDI, the Lazarus Project worked…I'm here…and I don't like my privacy invaded so knock it off or I'll figure out a way to disconnect you."

" _Very well, Commander."_

And then there was silence, Sidda took in a long breath and then breathed out an even longer one as she pressed the button to continue her diary. _"The Alliance would shit a brick if they knew that an AI was installed on this ship."_ She began and allowed a slight smile when EDI did not chime in; the intelligence was waiting, maybe not even listening. _"I think this is one idea The Illusive Man had that was actually a good one…apart from bring me back from the dead. AI's are illegal in the galaxy but Cerberus likes to thumb their nose at the rule book. Most of the time I have to save them from their stupidity but once in a while the blind squirrel finds a nut. Having a Cyber Warfare and Electronic Countermeasures capable Artificial Intelligence onboard is going to be incredibly dangerous…but at the same time…incredibly useful."_

" _I am glad you approve, Commander."_ EDI chimed in finally.

Sidda ended her dictation and headed for the shower. "Just don't make me regret it," she warned. "I've had enough encounters with run away, galactic domination, homicidal AIs. I don't need another in my own house."

Sleep did not come easy, they were heading to the Citadel much to Miranda's annoyance but Sidda needed to talk to the Council and find Garrus. She needed the Turian on this mission, someone she trusted. She sure as hell didn't trust anyone onboard aside from Joker and Chakwas but she'd need more than them to pull this suicide mission off.

* * *

The Citadel had changed quite a bit but C-Sec was still easy enough to find. Finding her target, however, was a little more difficult…finding one specific Turian on the Citadel wasn't easy.

Security on the station had increased exponentially, it took forever to get through C-Sec and even then it baulked because to the computer she was very much dead. Once she was over that hurdle she set out to find her target, who was a quite a bit harder to find even in the confines of C-Sec.

Sidda twirled in the chair in front of the desk. The last time she'd come to visit Chellick had been during the pursuit of Saren. He was a good cop, Garrus didn't mind him. Chellick passed her as he entered, for a cop he wasn't overly observant with his eyes glued to a couple datapads he kept flipping through. "Can I help you?" he uttered. He was a busy man and his desk reflected that. Stacks of casefiles were neatly organized but there was still quite a few of them.

Sidda nearly smirked this was gonna be too good; she was going to scare the hell out of him if he didn't stop and look. "Hi, Chellick," she grinned.

Chellick finally saw her. The Turian squawked…he'd seen a fucking ghost. "Shepard!" Sidda's cheeky grin remained. Chellick looked comical, like he was ready to climb the wall. "Shit!" he exclaimed shocked to the core. "You're dead!"

Sidda shrugged, just getting through security told her that the world still thought she was dead. Bailey's magic button made it all go away in the systems but it was going to be fun scaring the daylights out of everyone else. "That's the rumor."

Chellick's head spun, he couldn't wrap his head around this. "So you're not dead?" His mind didn't even register the question, if he had he wouldn't have said it but he was too stunned and mid panic to ask a question that made sense.

Sidda's expression reflected her response to the question. "Chellick…come on, man."

The Turian blinked. "Right…sorry," he replied, still unnerved by the dead woman sitting in his office. "So…uhh…what…what's going on?"

"I'm looking for Garrus," she began as the cop relaxed enough to sit down, "do you know where he is?"

Chellick shook his head. "He quit last year."

Garrus always was one step off of quitting the bureaucratic nightmare that was C-Sec so she wasn't exactly shocked. "Do you know where he went?"

Chellick shook his head. "Not sure. He left and just dropped off the map."

Her brow furrowed as he fidgeted to expel the nervous energy. "That's it? He just dropped off the map?" she asked. "You're Chellick. Garrus told me that you're the guy in C-Sec that can find anyone."

Chellick grumbled, he liked Sidda and was sad when she died but whenever she showed up it always spelled trouble. "Look, it is not my day to watch him, Commander; I don't know where he is. He quit."

Garrus quitting wasn't hard to imagine, he was too impatient for C-Sec which is why he loved working with a Spectre. "Quit why?"

"I don't know. It's Garrus. He hated being tied up in all the red tape and after yo…you _died_ Garrus had enough. Turned in his resignation and left."

Sidda harrumphed. "What about his old partner? The one after you…or before you…what was the order?"

" _That's_ your question?" he sniped back starting to get frustrated, she cocked her head and Chellick huffed. "Leena. After. She moved to Thessia about 10 months ago."

Sidda sighed and got to her feet. "If you do find anything out on Garrus please let me know."

Chellick grunted a response and then looked up at her. He wasn't holding his breath; he hadn't heard from Garrus since he quit so he was sure that he wouldn't now. "Where are you going?"

To the meeting that she wasn't looking forward to, Anderson had gotten wind that she was alive and asked her to come see him. Sidda wasn't looking forward to it; she was looking forward to seeing their reactions but not looking forward to the rest of it. "To scare the hell out of the Council."

Chellick actually laughed, that was going to be a fun meeting. "Oh let me know how that goes…try to leave the Presidium intact this time, two years later we're still trying to fix your last visit."

Sidda grinned. "Pleasure as always, Chellick," she said and paused before she left. "Can I ask a favor?" She came back from the dead, he figured he owed her a favor and gave a single nod. "Can you track down a hierarchy General?"

Chellick sat back and gave her a curious expression. "They're hard to hide…who do you need?"

"Adrien Victus."

Chellick agreed and gave her another nod. "I'll check it out. I'll send you a message when I find him." He said and Sidda nodded gratefully. Two years had gone by so she wasn't sure how to contact Victus, whenever she worked up the courage to do so.

* * *

Sidda grumbled as she tossed her jacket clear across the room and punched the button on the terminal to continue her dictation. She'd never really kept a diary before; it was just amusing now to get her thoughts out in the open even if no one heard it. _"Dear Diary,"_ she began sarcastically, _"well that was six hours of totally wasted time,"_ she grumbled loudly. _"Garrus has clearly performed the greatest disappearing act in the galaxy since The Illusive Man can't even find him, Anderson won't tell me where Kaidan is because "it's classified", Udina is still a backstabbing, sleazy, snake, and the Council…the Council still shows that it has more in common with an Ostrich than a group of civilized species. Apparently, all I needed to do was die so they could wash all the stuff about Saren and the Reapers away. Without me to nag in their ears they just stuck their heads in the sand and moved on. Bastards did reinstate me as a Spectre though so long as I keep to the Terminus…terrific…the goddamn Wild West."_

She shook her head as she found several messages from The Illusive Man. "Illusive Man…what a pretentious name," she muttered and then tapped her way through the dossiers that he sent her. She'd received the one for Mordin Solus and now two more. One for a Mercenary Veteran named Zaeed Massani, a name she vaguely recognized, who apparently cost a lot of money to hire and another for a mercenary commander responsible for carrying out hits on the Omega gang leaders. On the way back from her Spanish Inquisition with the Council she told Joker to head out to Omega to get the ball rolling on this travelling road show.

The monitor on the desk chimed an incoming call; she couldn't imagine who would be calling her now.

" _Commander, I tracked down Gen. Victus like you asked, I transmitted the contact information to you. He's still on the PFS Lante."_

That did not surprise her in the slightest. Victus had been the commander of that ship for over a decade, she didn't expect that to change any time soon. She chuckled. "Damn, Chellick, that was fast."

Chellick scoffed. _"It's Adrien Victus, Sidda, he's not that hard to find if you know where to look."_

Sidda's brow furrowed and leaned forward on to the desk closer to the monitor. "So let me get this straight, you can find a Turian General who's usually off on classified missions in five hours but you can't find one rogue cop after ten months?"

" _Everyone's a critic,"_ Chellick replied sounding bored. _"And it was more like two hours…I am a Detective, Commander, I have stuff to do."_ To be perfectly honest he hadn't been looking for Garrus…it was not his job to keep tabs on an officer who quit.

"You've gotten pretty snarky in the last two years, Chellick, I like it," she chuckled and Chellick snorted.

" _Good luck, Commander,"_ He nodded back.

"Thanks, Chellick," she smiled back and the screen changed. The contact information was attached just as he said they would be. Sidda hesitated before opening it, nothing would make her happier then to talk to Victus but she was almost scared to.

"Here we go…" she began and heaved a great sigh. _"Hello Adrien, it's..it's me. You're not dreaming and it's not a trick. It wasn't a lie either; I did die for two years. I don't even know where to begin with this; I've been mulling this around for over a week trying to figure out what to say. Long story short, an organization spent a lot of money and resources to bring me back to life. I'm trying to pick up the pieces and figure this out but I'm not sure how to do this. Now I'm back for another suicidal mission so I'll probably die at the end of it anyway. Sorry. I swear this isn't a trick, if you're okay with it I'd like to see you. You pick the time and place."_

She stopped the dictation and let out a rough breath. "I wonder how many of them are gonna shoot me if they see me?" she muttered and sighed again. She left the letter alone; somehow she just didn't know what to say.

* * *

"I don't need your help, EDI, now buzz off." She heard Joker bitch and cracked a half smile. Joker had been the least receptive to the AI, after the run in with Sovereign and the Geth she didn't really blame him, but Sidda had a different opinion. A VI was helpful but the possibilities were endless when it came to an AI. She was curious to see how it would turn out.

"Having fun with the computer?"

"Funny," Joker retorted. "Commander, can we shut this thing off?"

Sidda sat down on the railing to the right. "I think it's gonna be fairly useful."

Joker laughed. "You blew up the last AI that pissed you off."

Sidda shrugged and gave a slight chuckle. "And I'll do the same thing to this one if it turns to the dark side."

"Way to be proactive," he commented and then noticed that something was on her mind. "You okay, Commander?"

Sidda sighed heavily. "Trying to compose a letter…ordinarily not a mind blowing task but the gist of this one is 'hey, I'm back from the dead', having issues trying to write it."

Joker didn't pretend he knew what to say. "Yeah…how you doing with that? The coming back to life thing."

"Well, it was fun scaring the hell out of Chellick…I've only ever heard a Turian squawk once and it gets funnier every time I hear it," she replied and Joker laughed. "It was a bitch to get through security…in and out."

"Not to mention all the sideways looks we get running around sporting Cerberus colors."

Sidda shook her head, she'd sooner strut around naked then wear those clothes. Now she had a black leather jacket, jeans, and straight up civilian attire. "So don't wear Cerberus colors, do what I did…go buy casual. I'll die happy if I never put that crap back on."

Joker grunted and snorted. "You know they're probably recording all of this."

"Fuck em if they can't take a joke," she chuckled.

Joker laughed. "Good to have you back."

She gave him a half smile and looked at the navigation panel. "ETA to Omega?"

"Bout an hour."

She stood and walked off the bridge. "Time to go get ready for the outhouse of the Terminus."

"Just wipe your feet before you come back." Joker called after her and she chuckled.

* * *

Cerberus had some funny ideas about how they set up their ships, rather than it being an efficient one stop shop in the bay with arms and armor they were set up on deck two. Odd. Sidda adjusted her armor with the new pieces she purchased on the Citadel, extra ammo packs strapped to her left thigh for thermal clips, grenades, heat sinks; a Sentry Interface that was leaps and bounds better than her old model, a shield harness, dampening gauntlets, and a thousand other things to modify her armor. On the Illusive Man's dime she was okay with splurging.

She tugged at the strange fit of the Aegis vest and twisted to break it in. _"So, not only have the weapons changed but the armor has too."_ She complained

" _Commander,"_ Miranda's voice began.

"And there's my other irritation," she muttered. "Yeah?"

" _Commander, we are approaching Omega."_ The Cerberus operative informed her over the comm.

Sidda nodded with a heavy sigh. "I'll be there in a minute," she replied. _"And there's my other hell. Cerberus. This ship is crawling with Cerberus, terrorists, racists, 'humanities sword'…more like a dagger in the back. Most of the kids who keep the ship running are just young idealists, big deal, people like Donnelly and Daniels but then there's Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor,"_ Sidda scoffed in disgust. She couldn't stand either one of them. _"Jacob Taylor: an Alliance turncoat who can actually turn a blind eye to Cerberus' 'checkered past' and keep a fucking straight face about it. I guess the same can be said for Joker but I at least believe Joker. Jacob struts around like he's the hot stuff biotic ready to give me the 'good stuff'. Just chuck him out the airlock and be done with it. Miranda Lawson: The Illusive Man's Barbie doll. Has the nerve to tell me that she doesn't trust me…ME…she's the terrorist I'm just the Lazarus Man. Jacob is all brawn, and very little at that, and no brain but Miranda is the smart one. Fairly certain that I'll never trust her so I'm waiting for a rug to be yanked out from under me at any moment."_

" _Commander,_ " Miranda's voice cut in again and Sidda ground her teeth.

"Yeah, in a minute, Lawson!" she snapped back leaving silence in the air.

" _And it appears that I have quite the band to assemble. Starting on Omega…yee- fucking-haw…two years ago that asteroid was a no fly zone so I doubt it's gotten better with time. A cesspool that is apparently a breeding ground for people I need to save the galaxy. There's the Salarian scientist who's supposed to help with the Collector's ability to subdue a whole colony, the galaxy's best Mercenary Zaeed Massani, and some lunatic calling himself Archangel."_ She went on as she did one final check of her new black and yellow armor. It irked her now, Cerberus colors. _"So let's recap…I'm supposed to save the galaxy with a merc, a lunatic, and a scientist…we are so screwed."_


	2. Chapter 2: Archangel

_**Note: And we're rolling right along. Thank you to the favorites and follows. I appreciate the feedback and constructive criticism.**_

 _ **More to come :) please enjoy Chapter Two: Archangel.**_

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Chapter Two: Archangel**

Omega was a shithole. The outhouse of the galaxy. Garrus hated it, hated it to its core but he was there to make life better for the innocent people who actually lived there. He couldn't stand this place, there was no law, no order, Mercs played by their own made up rules and the only result was people getting hurt. People who were just trying to get by. For as long as he spent on Omega this was by far the worst it had ever been. He'd picked a fight with far too many of the wrong people and was now paying dearly for it.

When he left C-Sec he was met with mixed reviews. Some people expected him to do exactly what he did, march right into Pallin's office and quit, so when he did that people weren't exactly shocked. He hated the rules, he obeyed the law but it never sat well with him to let a suspect go that he knew without a doubt was guilty. On the other side, however, people like Chellick were actually surprised to see him quit. Sure he hated the broken justice system but whenever he helped someone who really needed it he was reminded just why he became a cop.

Omega was the crime capital of the galaxy and he wanted to do something that made a difference, his own way, without the brass breathing down his neck. He took a page out of Sidda's book and began recruiting…heavily. By the time he was finished he'd acquired quite an eclectic group of ex-military, law enforcement, and various other shady characters. His team was effective and they stirred up the biggest hornet's nest ever. They squashed small time dealers, protection rackets, gun runners and quickly graduated to the Blue Suns, Blood Pack, and Eclipse. Even bigger drug dealers, protection rackets, and gun runners. They even busted up an underage sex ring run by the Eclipse. Garrus and Sidonis had never been as brutal with their retribution as they were when they strung them up.

Then it all unraveled, like a single thread pulled on a flimsy scarf, it came apart at the seams and they all paid for it. Now Garrus had been treed in his hideout with only a very exposed bridge as his safety.

* * *

A group was making a push, the armor wasn't bad but they weren't the three main players gunning for his head. "I fucking hate Omega," Garrus grumbled loudly as he sighted down the Spectre Sniper Rifle. He was lucky he was proficient at sharpshooting; a lesser man would be dead. "I really fucking hate Omega," he repeated, only louder. After three well placed shots the group backed off, Archangel was all he was cracked up to be when it came to shooting. He even grounded a gunship with one shot like he was ordering lunch.

He heard a soft chuckle from Isla as she placed a bottle of water next to him. "Any change?"

Garrus sunk down into cover, taking his helmet off, and popped the top off the water. "Bolder but they're keeping their distance," he replied guzzling the water down in nearly one gulp. So far Isla Devereaux was his only ally; she was a Blue Suns Merc that ran the gauntlet of three different mercenary bands to get to him. He met her nearly a year ago when he was pestering the Blue Suns, he came face to face with her in a gun battle but she didn't shoot him, instead, she let him go. When it came to the Blue Suns she was his inside source. Isla was a Sentinel and a good one. She was from Fhel Prime, working with the Blue Suns to pay off her father's debt. "Downstairs?"

The black haired Sentinel shrugged as she stayed clear of the windows and sat down on the couch. "Still clear," she replied she had an accent that Humans called English; it was a beautiful voice to match the beautiful face. "Garrus, I think we need to make a run for it," she hardly ever called him Garrus, only in private did she do so, every other time it was always Archangel to protect his identity. It was months before she saw him without his helmet on.

Garrus shook his head. If there was simple way clear he'd have taken it by now. "We'd never make it, there's too many of them out there."

"And if we run out of clips up here?"

Garrus chuckled. "That's the beauty of this gun…no thermal clip," he said patting his Spectre Sniper Rifle set across his lap.

"You're a funny guy," she replied and noticed how exhausted he looked. He hadn't slept in days. He'd been up for, at the very least, two days…that's how long she'd been up here with him. She stayed in cover and sat down on his right. There was silence between them, they were both tired. "We're going to die here."

Garrus knew that. He figured that was at the end of this rainbow as soon as he walked in to a massacre of his team. He was quiet as the words just hung in the air. "I know," he said finally. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this."

Isla tipped her head back onto the stone with a small smile. "I ran to you remember," she said and took a deep breath. The simple act felt as relaxing as ever. "Ever since we were at arm's length pointing guns at each other. "

Garrus got her meaning, why else would she risk all three Merc bands to come and help him. He admitted there was a certain attraction to her but admitting it and starting something would show a weakness for someone to exploit. "You have lousy timing, Dev."

She giggled in reply as he looked over at her with a tired expression that mirrored her own. "Well, I figure we're all about to die so why not."

Garrus chuckled putting his helmet back on. Anonymity was his best friend, he could still move freely around Omega because he always wore his helmet. "Yeah…let's see what the kids are up to," he shifted his tired body around to peer over the wall and expected to see an army down below but there was nothing. He could see movement when he sighted down the scope but nothing in the way yet. "Looks like they're starting to move…they're up to something."

"Tarak and Jentha mentioned something about using freelance mercs to save their own ranks," Isla explained and Garrus grunted as he settled back into cover.

"Cannon fodder," he shortened. "That means there's a bigger plan ahead." He couldn't say he was thrilled about that idea.

"Mmmhmm," she muttered.

There was a moment as Isla remained as the spotter and Garrus checked his rifle and made sure there were clips for Isla next to her position. He didn't need any for his rifle but his pistol was another story, honestly at this point if he had the need to use it he'd already screwed up to the point that it didn't matter. The situation was drastic; he gave his rifle to Isla so she could use all the clips she needed.

"Archangel, they're moving," she alerted. "Here we go."

It wasn't an organized group. The Blue Suns may have been criminal organization now but they had started as private security or even private military. That was the hardest part of fighting them, they still operated that way. Instead of going after vicious thugs and criminals like the Blood Pack or dealers like the Eclipse the Blue Suns still had that military element that was harder to get around. "This must be the Freelancers." He sighted down the scope as the Vindicator Isla was using sounded off. He fired his first shot at a man in white armor, a round in the head, quick and painless. Then to the next, another human, he ended his life with a round through his right eye…the helmet did nothing to stop his powerfully modified weapon. The shots came quicker now. His precision was still as sharp as ever despite his exhaustion. Garrus had accepted the fact that this might be his last Harrah but he wasn't going down quietly, he was going to make them work for every last inch. He fell into the rhythm that had been drilled into him since boot camp. Aim. Exhale. Fire. Repeat. He had the timing for this rifle down to a science; he'd modified the cool down for maximum efficiency.

The next target stopped him cold. He looked away from the scope certain that he'd just seen a ghost. It couldn't possibly be her. He was so tired now he was seeing things. He looked again down the scope. _"Can't be her,"_ he thought to himself. Time seemed to stop as he found his target. The black armor with yellow stripes indicating an N7 Biotic specialist, the familiar visor, and the dark hair shorter than he remembered screamed at him. But it was mostly the way she carried herself, the confident moves of a seasoned combat veteran. She carried only a pistol but had an assault rifle on her back, exactly Sidda's preference in combat. "Sidda," he breathed in shock. It didn't make any logical sense, he saw the _Normandy_ explode, knew she had been spaced. They never found her body even after an extensive SAR. But if that wasn't Sidda down there he would stand up and let the Mercs take all the time they wanted taking him out. Isla's weapon barked a few more times bringing him back to his senses.

"Dev, don't shoot the two humans in black and yellow and the Salarian with them," he called and looked switched to concussive rounds. 'Sidda' was hanging back, or seemed to be. He fired a shot into her shields and she started moving. If that was Sidda she'd bark at him for it later.

"What are you talking about?" he heard Isla ask.

"Just trust me. She's on our side," he replied and fired another shot into her barriers again. He watched as Sidda and her party actually opened fired on the Mercs in front of them. Garrus smiled behind his helmet, it was her. "We might just survive this after all."

'Sidda's' team vanished below them and he concentrated on the rest that were coming over the bridge. "Garrus?"

"I'll be fine. They're on our side."

Isla grumbled, she didn't take it at face value. Things unraveled when he walked into a trap that was taken on faith when she told him it was a bad idea. She wanted to shift her position to greet the guests but Garrus barked an order for her to stay. She growled and took her aggression out on the mercs down her scope. Clearing out the incoming Mercs was simple enough; they were amateurs and didn't stand a chance against Garrus' 15 years of military experience.

"One left," Isla muttered. The smart bastard was in cover behind a pillar and Garrus was like a predator ready to pounce. He didn't reply to her comment but his silent focus told her all she needed to know. Behind her she felt the presence of another and turned. There in the entrance were the three Garrus wouldn't let her shoot. Two Humans and a Salarian. No one shot but their weapons were trained on each other. Isla looked them up and down and cocked her head at the human man that was on the right, the scarred face and tattoos she knew. "Zaeed?"

The scarred and tattooed mercenary regarded her; they'd met years ago when she was a kid and her father was a trusted member of the Blue Suns. Zaeed started the Blue Suns with Vido, the evidence of the 'hostile takeover' visible on his face. "Dev," he replied simply. "The fuck are you doing up here?"

The woman didn't care about the answer and sidled to her right. Garm had mentioned that Archangel was a Turian so the lone Blue Suns Merc wasn't who she was looking for. "Are you Archangel?"

Isla kept her weapon trained on her, she knew Zaeed Massani, and to a point she trusted him. The Salarian was Mordin Solus, an odd place to find him but the woman she couldn't quite place. Garrus didn't answer; he was still hunting his prey but did hold up one figure then took his shot. He stood, shifted behind the wall to stay in cover and pulled his helmet off. Isla didn't like that. Garrus only took his helmet off around people he trusted to keep his Archangel persona alive.

"Sidda," he greeted, "welcome back from the dead."

"Garrus!" she exclaimed and holstered her pistol. Isla figured out her identity, she was Commander Shepard. Garrus knew her, she watched them clasp hands in friendship the way the Turians did. No wonder he told her not to shoot her but to Isla's knowledge Shepard was dead. "What the hell are you doing here!?" Sidda could never know how glad he was to see her, his friend…she was back. Somehow she was back. He felt a weight lift from his shoulders even though he knew this was far from over. "Never mind, I don't care…since when did you start calling yourself 'Archangel'?"

"Sid," he began sounding as tired as she'd ever heard, "it is a very long story. We'll swap stories over a drink or two, once we're out of this, what do you say?"

"Deal," she nodded, she was able to judge the situation and it was dire, from what she's heard Garrus had been up here for two days while they were all trying to kill him. She didn't know he had an ally through, a woman in Blue Suns armor. "Zaeed, Mordin, this is Garrus Vakarian…hands down the best sniper I've ever seen in my life."

Garrus nodded as the quick introductions went on. "Isla Devereaux."

"Blue Suns?" Sidda inquired.

"She's cool," Garrus nodded, he sounded so tired. She looked the dark haired woman up and down, the glow of the Tech Armor told her she was a sentinel. Tech Armor was a new development over the years and looked extremely useful. Some of the Mercs she fought in the Quarantine Zone had it and it was a bitch to get around.

"I think they figured out the incursion team failed," Zaeed commented as he peered out of cover to take a look.

"Let's see what they're up to," Garrus said getting back to business. He wanted to know so much more, how she survived, where she'd been this whole time, and a thousand other things but it could wait. He needed to survive this first.

"Plan was to send the incursion team over the bridge to try their luck…obviously they were really unlucky…and then attack with their full force. I couldn't get much more out of them other than that." Sidda explained as Garrus passed her the sniper rifle. "You still have her," she smiled and sighted down to look through the scope.

"Yep," he grunted. "Take a look. Lots of Mechs, my guess is Eclipse is on deck."

Sidda got a LOKI Mech in her sights and fired taking its head off in one clean shot. "Batter up."

"Here we go," Garrus agreed and took the rifle back. "Spread out."

"Zaeed. Mordin. Take the back." Sidda ordered as she readied a rifle Garrus had never seen before, a white weapon with a Cerberus emblem. It started to come together. Cerberus was involved. He put that to the back of his mind, he'd deal with it later.

"Fuck. A YIMR Mech," Isla cursed. "Archangel."

"I see it."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," Sidda said as she felt Isla's eyes boring in on her. "I gave it a new trick. Save your ammo, use your abilities," she continued and didn't look away from the field. Isla didn't trust her. She was okay with that.

Watching the next few minutes was like watching a comedy show. A sick and twisted comedy show. When the hulking YIMR Mech stood up its friend or foe had been disabled by Mordin and it fired on the troops and Mech's it was meant to aid. Soft chuckles emanated from the three of them.

"This is the best thing I've seen in days," Isla muttered causing more of a chuckle from Garrus.

"It's the simple things in life you treasure," Garrus commented.

When they did start shooting the Mech had to go first, it took a couple minutes to bring it down but when it did it exploded sending shrapnel for meters. The second wave was tougher. Vanguards, Sentinel's, and Jaroth. Garrus wanted Jaroth, badly; drug dealer, slave trafficker, murderer, just to name a few. Most of the illegal goods on the Citadel came from that bastard. Man he wanted to kill him. His Tech Armor prevented a clean headshot but Isla helped considerably, between Sidda and Isla they brought the shield down and he capped off one shot. One perfect shot. Garrus smiled a sense of satisfaction when the Salarian fell.

"Oh that felt good," Garrus muttered.

"Tell me something, Vakarian, what did you do to piss all these assholes off?" Sidda asked, knowing Garrus he saw an injustice, walked into the middle of it, flipped them the bird and started a fight. She could see that for one band but three? That was excessive even for him.

"Sid…" Garrus began as he fired again.

"Yeah, I know…drinks later," she muttered in reply. An explosion went off somewhere else in the compound, big and it drew Garrus and Isla's focus. "What the hell was that?"

Isla cursed under her breath, just as things looked like they were turning around. "The tunnels, Garrus." Garrus also cursed, loudly.

"Garm said they had people tunneling in…didn't think it'd be so fast," Sidda grumbled and Garrus cursed again.

"We can't fight them on two fronts."

"I know that, Dev, thank you," Garrus snarled back.

Garrus was tired and frustrated and getting snappy. Sidda pushed away from her position, collected more clips and sighed. "Where's the basement?"

"West side under the stairs."

"Mordin, you stay. Zaeed, with me," she ordered, Isla was starting to trust her more. Sidda took the initiative but Isla cared for one thing right now; to protect Garrus for as long as she could.

"Zaeed, my mines are down there," Isla called, Garrus made a mental note to ask how she knew him. Zaeed Massani was legendary as a warlord, a bounty hunter, and an all-around shady character.

Zaeed grunted a response as they headed off down the steps, she was Sebastian's daughter…a good mercenary but gambled too much and it got him killed.

"Blood Pack, multiple Vorcha and Krogan. Vorcha regenerate, headshots best. Krogan, hard to kill, headshots also best, armor penetrating ammo best in both cases," Mordin said quickly.

"Strange place to find you, Doctor," Isla commented. "Thought you'd still be in the Quarantine Zone."

"Quarantine lifted. Shepard distributed cure to ventilation system. Recruited me for special project," Mordin replied and Garrus began shooting. The three of them worked well as a team. Isla blew up the flamethrowers and easily took out the wearer and whoever was next to them. Garrus handled the Krogan as quickly as he could. They were hard to bring down and he had the biggest rifle to do it.

Garrus growled. "Isla, cover the back, Krogan got through."

She shifted to the back and confronted the Krogan. He was huge, she hated fighting Krogan. If they got close enough…or angry enough…they charged. She tried to stay in cover to avoid the shotgun blasts and fire bursts from Garrus' modified Vindicator. He came up the steps like she wasn't even shooting at him. She hit him with a cryo power and then with Overload, that was combination that usually worked well. It staggered him and she fired another burst. Even with the armor piercing modification it was barely a dent. The Krogan crested the steps and she backed up, he charged with a roar and hit her hard enough to knock her off her feet. She hit the tech armor and it exploded with enough force to stagger the mountain of meat a few meters. She got to her feet and put the armor back up.

"Come on!" she roared. Isla didn't quit, she survived indentured service to the Blue Suns, survived living on Omega for most of her life. Had been brutalized, beaten, and raped by criminals and mercenaries alike. She could handle one Krogan that refused to die. She hit him with overload again and gave him another burst from the Vindicator. The beast charged through to storm but fell short as she finally succeeded in bringing him down.

"Effective," Mordin said simply. "Well done, Isla. More coming up the stairs." Isla reloaded and waited.

"Sidda, hurry the hell up. We can't hold them forever," Garrus said and quick as a cat Sidda replied.

" _Yeah, well tell them that."_ She snapped back. _"Working on the second."_

"Second? Are you getting old or something?" Garrus replied with a slight smirk on his face that she could see but could hear.

" _Hey, I'm working here, Archangel. Second ones down…leave me alone."_

Garrus left Sidda alone as more Blood Pack came though than they could handle in one sitting. "Isla, heads up, you've got company."

Isla had a penchant for mines, a good proximity mine could do a wonder of good when you were outnumbered and she littered the stairway with them then took cover behind the pillar at the edge. A pack of Varren started up the steps and the proximity mines with off. It sounded like the end of the world. All that was left was smoke and bits of Varren. She ducked fire from a Human merc and stayed behind the pillar. She wasn't sure how many of the mines went off and her body flared biotics as she produced a throw knocking him off his feet. He disappeared behind a wall and she continued to pick away at the ones that got past Garrus and Mordin.

Garm appeared from nowhere and the big Krogan spied her then grinned. "Son of a bitch, that's Garm!" she cried. "He came up from one of the tunnels."

Garrus' stomach knotted. Garm wasn't fun to fight the first time and resulted in the longest fight of his entire life. "Isla, get back here. Shepard, hurry up damnit!"

Garm was the biggest Krogan Garrus had ever seen, he was a biotic, and regenerated faster than any other Krogan he'd ever seen. He'd gotten into a fight with him once and barely escaped. He was the one he wasn't looking forward to fighting. Sure he wanted the murdering, gun running, slave trafficking, dealer dead but so far hadn't figured out how to do that without an army.

The perfect storm collided at the rear door. The mines that Isla set did practically nothing to Garm and company but they were enough to take out the Varren. "Archangel," Garm said, "it's about time."

"Sidda, hurry up," Garrus said and shot at him. The fight commenced. Isla, Mordin, and Garrus concentrated on Garm, or as much as they could. The firestorm combined with tech and biotic powers was deafening. Isla took a hit to her armor and it exploded as it was designed to do when it was depleted but she managed to take out Garm's second in command. She was stunned, her face was bloody, Mordin pulled her to safety but that still left Garm. He didn't want to fight him up close so he kept his distance as much as he could.

Garrus had switched to an assault rifle and was throwing all he could at the big Krogan. The next thing he heard was the sound of a rifle he didn't recognize, it sounded like a cannon. Behind Garm he saw Sidda and as the Krogan stumbled and staggered Garrus made a note to find out just what the hell was that rifle. His attention returned from its momentary deviation and watched her drop a Singularity on him. The mass of dark energy slowed him. Garrus and Mordin opened fire then the room exploded in with blue brilliance and loud bang. Garrus knew that to be a biotic explosion. They all felt the blast and it rattled his teeth. All the same…Garm fell.

"Sidda…" Garrus began but somehow 'thank you' wasn't enough. "I owe you a whole bunch of drinks."

Sidda just smiled and nodded to him. "Boy, he was a big one," She commented looking at the enormous carcass of Garm.

She didn't know the half of it. "Are you alright?" he asked moving over to Isla. She was still dazed and her face was bloody. The Krogan punch her so hard her tech armor exploded. He knelt down in front of her and she nodded slowly.

"I'm alright," she nodded half-heartedly swatting his hand away.

"She'll be fine," Mordin said. "No permanent damage."

Zaeed and Sidda were searching bodies for guns, ammo, and anything else of use. "So that's Eclipse and Blood Pack," Sidda began as she reloaded her rifle. "Go for the trifecta or make a break for it?"

"Make a break for it," Isla voted and Garrus agreed.

"Agreed, we can fight our way clear of them," Garrus said. "Tarak's got the toughest group but we can handle him if we work together-…"

A loud heavy machine noise drew his focus. "Gunship!" Zaeed barked. "Fucking move!"

"How many times do I have to take that fucking thing out?" Garrus bitched.

"They fixed it but not completely…I gave it my best shot," Sidda replied as Blue Suns poured into the second level on the far side by the bunks.

Jentha and Isla squared off immediately. Isla never liked Jentha, she always sucked up to Tarek, did his bidding, gave Isla shit jobs even though she was Vido's little pet. Isla stepped toward her, knocked the weapon away and punched her in the face. She was better than Jentha and didn't need to use a weapon to kill her. The Blue Suns killed his entire team, tried to kill him, Garrus. Her Garrus. She warned Garrus not to go to that meeting and he barely made it out alive. Jentha fought back, broke her hold and put a little distance between them. She screamed as a jolt of electricity hit her, in a flash her shields were gone and she had barely a second to realize a gun was aimed at her head when Isla pulled the trigger.

Sidda found that she liked her new power. Reave was an ability that came with her new implant. It was like a high or a rush when she hit someone with it. Their life force padded her own; she tingled, and rode the high taken from the Turian Centurion. He hollered in agony before he dropped.

"Gunship!" Isla called. "Watch the Gunship!"

They dove into cover again as it fired again. Sidda was down by the couch as the Gunship tried to get a bead on Garrus safely in cover. Sidda pulled the grenade launcher from her back and primed it. She pushed out on her back aimed and fired. She hit the Gunship but didn't destroy it, just gave it something to think about. "Only you, Garrus," she barked as she took a quick stock of the situation. "Only fucking you would have a goddamn gunship gunning for your ass!"

Garrus growled. He wasn't proud of this situation but it was the situation. "How about you kick my ass later, Sid?"

She considered it. It was quiet; they didn't see anything and no one liked that. "I don't like this, Garrus, let's get the hell out of here?"

The gunship dropped into view as soon as Garrus came out of cover. "Archangel!" they heard Tarak's voice boom from the Gunship. Isla screaming Garrus' name was drowned out by the main gun of the gunship. Garrus was caught in the open. "This ends now!" Garrus dove for cover but didn't quite make it. Tarak fired a rocket and the rest of them saw was an explosion where Garrus had been.

"Garrus!" he was hurt, they could see it. She'd come this far she wasn't going to lose him now. Two years had passed and she'd lost enough. All this time she'd pestered Chellick to find him and he was where she was heading in the first place. It pissed her off; she was going to turn the Gunship into scrap metal. She readied the grenade launcher and flared blue as she channeled her rage into her biotic. The gunship bucked as a power warp hit it then she pelted it with rapid fire grenades. The menacing machine exploded as she launched all the grenades.

Isla and Mordin were already to Garrus, blood was everywhere but he gasped a breath. He was alive, at least there was that, but it was a horrific scene. He was badly injured but as badly as he was hurt he was reaching for his rifle and with the one eye that he could open he locked eyes with her.

"Oh don't you die on me now, Vakarian, hang in there. I got ya," she said moving the weapon into his reach. He clutched it tight.

Garrus was in a fog of pain and confusion. Sidda was there, Isla was there. The pain was unlike anything he'd ever felt and he blacked out.

* * *

Sidda trusted Chakwas, she was a great physician and with Mordin there Garrus couldn't be in better hands. After pacing for hours outside the medical bay she ventured to the comm room to brief Cerberus. The Illusive Man had also sent her two more dossiers, one for a Krogan Warlord and one for a prisoner. A prisoner…what a merry band of misfits.

She was half listening to Jacob go on and on about Mordin, the mission, trust, the new mercenary they picked up with Archangel.

"She's Blue Suns…we can't trust her," Those words made it to her ears and she cackled.

She shook her head, she really didn't like Jacob. "Funny words coming from you," she hissed and Jacob cocked his head at her.

"What is your problem, Commander?"

"You. Miranda. The Illusive Man," she replied. "You seem to forget that you're the terrorists. Blue Suns or not, if Garrus trusts her then I trust her. End of story."

"Commander, we're not the enemy, you need to trust us," he told her and Sidda shook her head.

"No I don't," she replied quickly and left the comm room.

* * *

Chakwas and Mordin kicked anyone who wasn't helping out of the Med Bay, Sidda paced in the Rec room for an hour or so before leaving but the Blue Suns merc that tagged along never left. Instead she sat down on the bench and fell asleep. Sidda considered waking her and tell her there were more comfortable places to sleep but she let her be. She looked just as exhausted as Garrus did.

"Hey, Doc, how is he?" she asked.

"Lucky." Chakwas said. "Not a direct impact, most of it is relegated to severe burns but he'll live."

"Can I see him?"

Chakwas nodded. "He's been asking for you actually."

Sidda expected to see Garrus lying down but he was actually up and looking at what was left of his armor. There was a hole in it showing just how close he came to death, the rocket hit him and punched clean through the right side of his armors collar. Sidda's whistle drew his attention. "Damn, you are one tough bastard."

Garrus grunted a response. He couldn't decide if he was tough or just _really_ lucky. "No one will give me a mirror. How bad is it?" he asked and she snorted.

The right side of Garrus' face was burned and bandaged; all things considered it could have been worse. "Hell, Garrus, you were always ugly…doubt anyone will notice the difference," she teased with a grin.

Garrus laughed and immediately regretted it, laughing, smiling, or even just talking at all hurt. "Oh. Oh, damn. Don't make me laugh, my face is barely holding together as it is. I'm more concerned about you, though…Sid, please tell me we're not working with Cerberus."

He could never know how badly she wanted to tell him that but it wouldn't be the truth, far from it in fact. She'd told every one of her recruits so far the truth and Garrus was no different. "So how about that drink? I'll run the sale pitch by you." Garrus nodded and followed her toward the exit. "Who's uhh, who's your groupie?" Sidda asked as she saw Isla through the window outside stretched out on the bench by the table.

"Be nice. She'd my friend. I probably would have died a lot sooner without her," he told her and Sidda giggled, he knew that giggle. That was the same giggle she had when she thought she figured out his 'love life'. He avoided Isla as he followed Sidda, she needed to sleep and he wasn't about to disturb her.

* * *

One of the best things about his new _Normandy_ was that it came with a fully stocked bar and for a human ship it had dextro drinks too. She poured two glasses of Turian Brandy and sat down with him. "I guess we both have some serious stories to tell."

"Vigilante sojourn. Returning from the dead. You win, you go first," Garrus replied taking a careful drink. "Why are we working for Cerberus?"

"They're the ones who brought me back," she said taking a sip of the brandy. Honey sweet and packed a punch, she missed it. "The Illusive Man funded a project to resurrect me. Very expensive but it worked. The Collectors are abducting whole human colonies, I visited one; Freedom's Progress. They're only after humans and I agree with The Illusive Man that the Reapers have got to be playing a part in this."

Garrus processed the explanation, he had been on the SAR to find Sidda but even in all the debris and being hounded by pirates they never found her body. "That explains why we never found your body. Question is how Cerberus got a hold of it…you…so fast."

She took another drink, she was weary and he could see it. "I don't know, Garrus, I'm almost afraid to ask," she sighed. "I don't trust anyone on this ship but Joker, Chakwas, and you…that's why I need you. I'm being used can feel it. The Collector threat is real but…there's something else."

"No one's getting to you this time, Sid, I promise you that," he told her and she gave him a smile. She instantly felt better, better than she had since she'd awoken to this strange new world.

"So there's my news…your turn." She said taking another drink.

"Did you talk to Victus?"

Sidda's expression narrowed, she'd been avoiding that topic, and she still wasn't sure what she was going to tell him. The letter was still on her terminal, pending. "I said your turn, Vakarian."

"Not so fast. Did you talk to Victus?" he asked again.

Sidda downed the rest of the brandy. She needed to pace herself with this stuff but the conversation took a turn and she reached for the bottle. Garrus moved it away and she glared. "What the hell am I gonna tell him?" she grumbled. " 'Hey, hi, I'm back from the dead?'"

Garrus poured her another drink as he nursed his own. "Might be just that simple, yes." She glared at him. "I told him that you were dead, trust me, he'll want to know you're not."

"Garrus, this mission could kill me, I'm not gonna tell him I'm back from the dead if I could be dead before he gets the damn letter." Garrus shrugged, she had a point with that but he vividly remembered Victus' reaction and how upside down that ship turned. Victus needed to know.

"You still need to tell him."

He was right she just wasn't looking forward to the awkward conversation. "Your turn, _Archangel_. Since when did you start calling yourself that?"

"I didn't. Some of the locals started calling me that after some of my good deeds."

From the Citadel to Omega, that was a hell of a culture shock. "How'd you wind up on Omega? Chellick said you quit."

Garrus shrugged, she read his body language and noticed that he didn't want to talk about this. "Omega seemed to be the best place to go for me to do some good. I recruited a good team, military, police, mercenaries we really started to make a difference."

"How'd you go from making a difference to cornered by three merc bands trying to kill you?" She asked and he drank faster.

" _I screwed up."_ He thought but decided to avoid it all together. "I don't want to talk about that."

His tone she knew. It was the same one she'd heard when he spoke about Leena and what happened to her. Something terrible must have happened for him to land in a situation that went that far into FUBAR. "So what's with Blue Suns out there?"

Garrus didn't mind talking about her; Sidda would sniff it out anyway. "Isla," he corrected. "Outside my team she was the only ally I had."

Sidda could see that he liked her. "How'd you meet her?"

"She was guarding a warehouse with stolen guns smuggled out of C-Sec's inventory." He said and remembered it fondly. She never saw his face but she made an impression on him. She matched him hand to hand and by the time they were done they were pointing guns at each other. "We got into a fight; whoever trained her trained her well. It ended up in a draw; her pistol pointed at me my rifle pointed at her, neither one of us pulled the trigger. Sometime during the fight we tripped an alarm and she let me go. Covered for me, sent the Blue Suns in the opposite direction."

"You made a friend with someone on the other team on a job on their turf? Damn Garrus, you are charming."

Garrus chuckled regretting that again, his face throbbed. He took a bigger swig of Brandy. "She'd tip me off about gun deals, drugs, generally shady activity all over Omega. She even pulled me and Butler out of the fire once."

"How'd she wind up treed with you?"

Another memory he'd never forget, the terrifying sight of her racing across that bridge with her own men shooting at her. His skill had never been more focused; the Blue Suns and the Blood Pack were shooting at her. He took every one of them down to clear her path. Of course he chastised her for it later, stupid suicide run for a lost cause. "Raced across that bridge with everyone shooting at her about a day before you showed up."

Sidda's brow arched. "Now that's a good friend," she commented. "Turned on her own people in the middle of a siege."

Garrus grunted an agreement as he finished off his first glass. His mind drifted to what Isla said before Sidda showed up. They both had lousy timing, she waited until they were hours from death and he never said anything despite months of a slow burn. He was glad he didn't since it probably would have gotten her killed. The attraction was immediate, even in the warehouse when they met, she never saw his face for months then they got trapped in a closet for a few hours while hiding from a spontaneous Blue Suns command meeting. The intel that put them there was crap on all sides but Garrus walked away with a goldmine afterward. That was the first time Isla had seen his face and the attraction was spurred on.

The door opened and Isla stepped in drawing their attention. "You're up," she said to Garrus. "How are you doing?"

Garrus stood slowly with a pained grunt. "I'm alright."

"Garrus is so stubborn he's nearly impossible to kill." Sidda added with a chuckle and winked at Garrus with a smirk.

Garrus rolled his eyes as she left them to converse in private. Isla's mouth and nose was a colorful array of red, blue, and purple. "Are you alright?" he asked. He'd asked her that already after Garm was killed but he didn't like to see her hurt.

"Yeah," she blushed at his concerned tone. "I've been hit harder. You?"

Garrus doubted that, he saw her get punched in the face so hard her Tech Armor exploded. "My ears are still ringing," he shrugged.

Isla didn't touch the bandages on his face but could see the fresh burns. "Oh that looks like it hurts."

Garrus wasn't going to lie, he was big enough to admit that it stung like a bitch even through the medication he'd been given for it. "It does."

"I'm glad you're okay. When that rocket hit…it…it scared me to death," she said and hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry I scared you."

Sure, their timing could have been better, but they weren't on Omega anymore.

* * *

Sidda glared at the open letter on the terminal, the cursor blinking expectantly for her to continue. Garrus was right. She hated it when he was right, he wasn't like some who held it over people when they were right but he was smug about it when it suited him. She leaned against the wall and cursed. Then cursed again. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to him or see him she just thought about how uncomfortable it was going to be and it scared her. Enough had happened already, news from Earth, her family, having Victus reject her was just going to be the icing on the cake. "Fuck it," she grumbled. Garrus was right; she owed it to him to tell him that she was alive. All she had to do was not get killed, again, before he read it. She hit send and it beeped: message sent.


	3. Chapter 3: Violence and Negotiations

_**Note: So this chapter wasn't in the original plan but with addition of an new OC (Isla) I finally figured out how to work in my guilty pleasure Turian, Warden Kuril. :) Don't know why I love that man but I do. This is just a shorty chapter but it works well with character development. Next chapter is right around the corner in the finalization stages and should be posted in the next few days, until then please enjoy.**_

 _ **Thank you for the favorites and follows and as always feedback is welcome.**_

 _ **I give you: Chapter Three: Violence and Negotiations**_

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Chapter Three: Violence and Negotiations**

Sidda looked over the next dossier in the comm room, 'The Convict'. She found it strange that a prisoner was on the list of people she needed to recruit. Subject Zero, also known as 'Jack'. She harrumphed as the rest of her crew showed up, Miranda and Jacob first then Zaeed and Mordin followed by Garrus and Isla. Garrus was the one she trusted the most, Zaeed was a useful wealth of knowledge but she hadn't figured him out yet. Isla was like Zaeed, she hadn't figured her out yet. Garrus trusted her. Hell, Garrus had romantic feelings for her. She was taller that Sidda, had black hair, and a slight Asian look to her features. She was very pretty and to be honest she was surprised that Garrus went for a human.

"Where are we going next?" Jacob asked as Sidda tapped a few things on the console.

"Prison," she replied. "A ship called _Purgatory_."

" _Purgatory?"_ Isla questioned. "That's a Blue Suns funded prison ship."

Sidda cocked her head at their resident Blue Suns expert. "You know it?"

Isla nodded. "Yes. Run by a Turian named Kuril, used to be a cop on Palaven."

"Cop turned merc…seems to be running theme," Sidda remarked pointedly toward Garrus.

"Vigilante."

"Nuance," Sidda countered. "Cerberus has negotiated the release of a prisoner called 'Jack'. The Illusive Man paid a substantial amount for Jack's release…but, like everything else so far there's always a catch. One that I haven't figured out yet."

"I know it," Isla said bluntly. "Kuril won't be satisfied with just the payment. He'll want something more."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know him," she replied. "I know him well."

Garrus' eyes narrowed. "How well?"

Isla sighed heavily, knowing Garrus he wasn't going to like this. "I used to sleep with him."

The room went silent as Sidda's brows lifted, that wasn't exactly where she saw that going. Garrus shifted uncomfortably. Sidda ignored it as Isla did. "What do you know?"

Isla had known Kuril for a few years now, they had a history that Garrus really wasn't going to like but she didn't care. "Kuril extorts money from governments to keep and care for the prisoners. If they don't pay he releases them at an undisclosed time and place back into their care. On the other side of it he also sells prisoners to the highest bidder."

"So he's a slaver," Sidda summed and Isla merely shrugged.

"For the most part," she said, Kuril wasn't the worst the Blue Suns had to offer. "He believes the work he does saves lives and makes them better, bent morals or not. He'll honor the deal with Cerberus but the moment he sees you, Commander, he'll want you."

Sidda's brow furrowed. "Why me?"

"Why not? You're Commander Shepard, first human Spectre, Hero of the Citadel, Hero of Elysium, and back from the dead. Batarians would pay an extraordinary amount for you and that's all he'll see." Isla explained and Sidda couldn't argue with the logic. She was right. She looked at Garrus and then to Zaeed, her 'Mercs'.

"So what do you suggest?" Zaeed asked.

Zaeed was the man who first trained her; she was one of the few who knew his true history with the Blue Suns. That tattoo on his neck wasn't merely for show, he was the original. He and Vido began the Blue Suns. Next to Garrus, he was the one she trusted completely. "As I said, he'll honor the deal but I don't think you should be there. I'll go."

Garrus didn't like that at all. Not just because he had a budding personal relationship with her but that she might be just as sought after as Shepard or even him. She betrayed the Blue Suns. "Why you?"

"Because he trusts me."

Garrus scoffed loudly. "You turned on the Blue Suns, odds are he knows that."

"I'm betting he doesn't," Isla replied her tone even and calm. Sidda commended her for it. "Even if he does…I can handle Kuril."

Sidda couldn't argue with her logic and to be frank she was right. "Pick your team."

* * *

Isla sighed as she looked at her Blue Suns armor, it was good armor but it never really had too much meaning for her. Her membership into the Blue Suns wasn't voluntary; she was forced to be there by Vido Santiago to pay off her father's major debt that he racked up with the Suns. Her father may have been trusted in the inner circle but to Vido nothing was out of reach. Sebastian died on an op and left a substantial debt to Vido. Now looking at the armor she had a different reaction, it didn't fit anymore.

She stepped into it blindly like she'd done a thousand times before; painted like the Blue Suns or not it was still top of the line and modified to be even better. For as long as she'd been a mercenary her armor had never failed her. The only time she'd ever been shot was when she was caught without it.

"Hey," Garrus' voice said jarring her from her thoughts. He wasn't happy; she didn't even need to look at him to know that. "Zaeed and Mordin? Any specific reason you don't want me over there?"

She shifted in the armor settling into it. "Because you're barely healed and your armor has been through enough."

"Stop protecting me, Isla, we're not on Omega anymore," he warned and stepped closer. "What's your history with Kuril?"

"I was sent to _Purgatory_ about three or four years ago because Vido wanted a bigger slice of Kuril's little extortion racket," she explained as she secured bits of her armor. "Kuril took a shine to me…like most do."

Garrus stiffened. "Did he-…"

Isla scoffed loudly, she could understand his assumption, as a woman in a criminal merc band the odds of her being assaulted in some way was better than average. "Kuril? Of course not…he's not a Human or a Batarian." The tone in her voice told him all he needed to know. "Garrus, please…just trust me."

Garrus trusted her but he was the protective type. "I just don't want you hurt anymore."

Isla blushed and looked down trying to hide her smile. "I know. That's why I'm taking Zaeed."

"So you trust him but not me?"

She giggled. "You asked me once who trained me," she said and Garrus cocked his head. "I've known Zaeed Massani since I was 9."

"Isla, if he knows what you did-…"

She put her right hand on his uninjured cheek. "I'll be okay, Garrus," she said and stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. "After all…I finally got you, Archangel; I won't let Kuril get in the way of that," she whispered in his ear then left to collect her weapons and meet her team. Garrus had a moment to be frustrated, worried, and in love all at the same time.

* * *

Isla's choices for backup were practical, she trusted Zaeed to watch her back incase Kuril was less friendly than she remembered and Mordin used to be Salarian STG. It made sense to bring him along for their new recruit in cryo but he could handle combat if Kuril was even less friendly then she remembered. The _Normandy_ docked and Isla couldn't help but feel a little nervous, Garrus wasn't wrong, if Kuril knew that she was no longer loyal to the Blue Suns this could go very badly.

She hadn't been to _Purgatory_ in over a year but Kuril's operation was state of the art. She knew Zaeed was doing the same as she was, the training that was drilled into her by him, assessing the security. Isla counted four guards in the docking area alone and more in the control center next to the door.

"Welcome to the _Purgatory_ , ma'am, your package is being prepped and will be delivered to you shortly." The guard said after a moment of looking her up and down. She was Blue Suns but arrived on a Cerberus vessel. The Turian looked her and her company up and down. The human man with her was scarred and tattooed; he had a menacing look about him that was enough to deter any questions and the Salarian waited patiently. "As this is a high security facility you'll need to relinquish your weapons here."

What attracted Kuril to her in the first place was her cool confidence. She acted like a boss but was by far smarter than any of them. "Not a chance," Isla replied coolly.

"This is a prison…you're not coming here armed," he stated firmly.

Isla didn't look bothered, prison or not Zaeed's first rule was to never give up your guns when you felt like you were walking into a mess. Meeting with Kuril today could go either way. "Why don't you go get your boss before you try to strong arm me."

"Everyone stand down." A gruff Turian voice said as he came through the door behind his guards and made his way down the steps. "Isla," he began as his tone changed to a low but affectionate one, "welcome back. I was beginning to think you forgot about me."

Kuril was unusual for a Turian; he was in the minority, a barefaced one. She had a soft spot for Turians. They were one only ones she'd met so far that never hurt her. "Sweet talk me all you like, Kuril, you're not getting my guns," she replied flashing him a smile.

Kuril purred a chuckle. "Let them keep their weapons. This is Isla Devereaux, she's one of us." Zaeed was uncomfortable with his tone. _He knows_. Kuril knew she changed sides on Omega. "If you'll come with me, I'll take you to out processing."

Isla sensed the same thing that Zaeed did and the quick glance from him was all she needed to confirm. Her exterior was cool as ever but inside the wheels in her head were spinning, trying to figure out his angle. The Warden prattled on about his ship and business, Mordin asked questions, Zaeed casually insulted him but Isla remained silent…she'd seen it all already. She knew his racket inside and out.

"Doctor, if you follow Bradley here he'll take you down to processing so you can supervise the release of Jack," Kuril said and looked to Isla. "I am going to verify the funds have transferred. Isla, would you care to join me?"

If she said no he'd be suspicious, in the past Isla enjoyed coming here, she could care less about the prison and the extortion, the prison was safer than Omega and Kuril was nice for a tough guy. She gave a single nod and casually turned to Zaeed.

"He knows," Zaeed said quietly and Isla cleared her throat.

"Yeah," she replied quickly. "Go with Mordin and handle the trade-off. I'll handle Kuril."

Zaeed nodded even though he didn't like it, Isla grew up on Omega surrounded by mercenaries and criminals. She hung around people like Vido and himself, and was trained by him; he had complete faith in Isla's ability to handle herself. Didn't mean he was comfortable with it.

* * *

Kuril's quarters hadn't changed, for a prison ship, he lived like a king. With as much money he raked in he better live the high life. She used to love being here; Kuril treated her like a Queen when she was there. He tapped the screen on his terminal and grunted satisfied with the enormous amount of money that dropped in then collected the glass of clear liquid he poured and moved to Isla. "Here."

She took the glass he offered her. Kuril kept a bottle of premium Vodka just for her. "Operation looks good, Kuril," she commented to him. "Side business must be booming."

The Warden didn't fence with her. "What are you doing on a Cerberus ship?" he asked downing his glass of Rellus, Turian Scotch, in one shot; normal behavior for him.

Isla sipped her drink and sighed. "Just an assignment."

"By who?"

She cocked her head at him maintaining her calm demeanor. "Kuril…why so nosey?"

Kuril set his glass down. He shared a drink with her, his form of an icebreaker, he'd done it when they first met and made friends, now he wanted to know what she was doing on a Cerberus ship. "I haven't seen you in over a year. You used to make regular visits."

That was true, at least until Archangel caused more trouble than he was worth for Omega. "Yeah, Omega had a little suicidal vigilante fiasco."

Kuril leaned against the far wall; he was feeling her out which threw her theory that he knew she was not Blue Suns anymore into question. Kuril was a careful man, he spent years as a cop on Palaven and even longer as a mercenary. "I heard about that. Heard it all ended in a firestorm too."

"Mercenary population was thinned considerably, that's true," she replied staying a cool as ever. Isla was a good interrogator among the Blue Suns, she was very good at reading people and Kuril knew that. "Too bad I wasn't there for it, been on 'special assignment' with Cerberus for the past couple months."

 _Lie._ He didn't tip his hand but she lied to his face. "What do they want with Jack?"

"I'm not really sure who Jack is…just assigned to help Cerberus pick him up," she replied taking another sip. This time there were no half-truths to it, she really didn't know anything about the convict known as 'Jack'. "What can you tell me?"

Kuril's expression was mixed but she got surprise from it the most. "Cerberus didn't tell you? Jack is a dangerous, crazy, and very powerful biotic. Done it all from theft to murder to drugs to terrorism."

"Sounds perfect for a terrorist organization," she muttered and Kuril grumbled.

"What's really going on, Isla?"

"Just an assignment, Kuril." Another lie, it had to be. The Blue Suns would never send one of theirs to work _for_ Cerberus. Tarak liked her Omega as an enforcer and interrogator. Vido liked her as a toy and a good negotiator. That's how she and Kuril met; Vido let her off Omega to negotiate for a bigger piece of Kuril's operator. Neither Tarak nor Vido would let her off Omega to work with Cerberus.

" _Isla,"_ Mordin's voice came through the comm, _"transfer complete. Taking Jack to docking bay now."_

That was Isla's cue to leave. As nice as it was to see Kuril again she wasn't comfortable, he was fishing. "Pleasure doing business with you, Kuril," she winked and the Turian looked down. Isla admitted there was still an attraction to him but the only Turian she had on her mind was Garrus, since the day she met him he was all she wanted.

"And it's been a pleasure having you back," he replied and Isla felt the familiar feeling of a pistol barrel pressed into her left temple. "But you're not going anywhere."

Grace under pressure was a key skill as a top class mercenary. Isla had always prided herself on the fact that she had that skill well in hand, but still, having a gun poised to blow her head off was a nerve racking experience. "What the hell are you doing, Kuril?"

"How stupid do you think I am? The entire faction on Omega wiped out but one or two survived the bloodbath with Archangel." Isla was thankful he wasn't a mind reader; she was cursing in every language she knew. "They reported to Vido and Vido sent it down the chain. There isn't a fucking place you can hide in the Terminus where the Blue Suns won't be gunning for you as a traitor."

"Kuril-…"

"Shut up," he growled sharply. "Now, your friends can leave with their package as Cerberus has held up their end of the deal but you stay."

She didn't snipe, didn't retort, and didn't even scoff. "That's not gonna happen."

"Then they all stay. You think I don't recognize Zaeed fucking Massani? Your mentor? I keep Jack, and who knows how much Vido will pay to get his hands on you."

Isla banked that was a bluff, Kuril would probably just keep her here but so far she'd overestimated her hand. "You know what he'll do to me, Kuril; you know what he's already done."

Kuril knew, he knew all too well what a son of a bitch Vido Santiago was, Isla was his favorite toy and she was never willing. "Then you shouldn't have lied to me."

"Kuril, I'm not kidding, don't do this." He ignored her and his Omni-tool lit up giving her the moment of distraction she needed. He was in armor so getting him to drop the weapon was going to require brute force; she brought her left hand up trapping it under her arm stepping into Kuril and punched the Warden hard in the face, then a second time, the third one was blocked but before he could counter attack she ducked under the arm she had trapped bending it back unnaturally. He dropped the pistol as she heard a crack and Kuril howled. All species were venerable at the knees and Turians were no different so when she kicked the back of his right knee he dropped down to a more manageable height. He struggled as she still held his right arm with her right and put her free arm around his neck. "Don't do this, Kuril, you've always been good to me I don't want to hurt you."

At this point, Kuril's affection for her had two categories; one, she was a traitor and she lied to him so he'd take great pleasure killing her himself and two, he liked a woman with spirit and Isla was kicking his ass right now. He'd never wanted her more. He fought back, damning her hold on him. He was still bigger than she was and she couldn't hold him for long. Kuril dug his talons into the one around his neck and his body bucked forward flipping Isla over his head and thus freeing himself from her hold. Kuril favored his right arm but his left was just fine and before she could get to her feet he was over top of her with his left hand around her throat.

Isla pulled the pistol she was carrying but despite the injury to his arm Kuril stripped it from her with eerie ease. "Kuril!" she croaked out as his grip tightened. He was either going to kill her or choke her enough until she passed out. Garrus and Zaeed were right. She'd been too overconfident with her ability to 'handle' the Warden if he knew. Her focus narrowed in a biological response to being strangled. "Kuril, stop!" Trying to push a Turian away while being strangled wasn't particularly effective. Turians had longer arms which still afforded them the leverage needed to continue the task. Isla put the palm of her right hand on his chest and sent an overload through his armor.

Kuril grunted at the voltage and went rigid tightening his grip briefly before collapsing onto her.

Isla gasped for breath as his grip was released; she took a moment to breathe again before pushing the unconscious Turian off her. "Oh, fuck me," she cursed and coughed as she spoke. Garrus was going to kill her. She staggered to her feet and coughed more, she wasn't sure what his staff knew but Isla wasn't going to chance it. She needed to keep them busy and if she remembered correctly Kuril's terminal could run the whole prison if he needed to. All she needed to do was release a block and his guards would have hours of fun. The Warden wasn't dead so she was on the clock and needed to do this quickly. The tech in her took over as she used her Omni-tool to clone his and bypassed the security on his terminal. From there it was simple matter of overriding the security of the cell block and releasing the prisoners. The maximum security wing was the one she chose. Sure, they were the worst of them all but they would keep his guards busy for a long time. Alarms sounded immediately and she ran leaving the Warden unconscious on the floor.

* * *

Isla tried not to look too terribly suspicious as she scurried out. Guards were already preoccupied with the alarm indicating a cell block failure. It was a drastic move that she hoped Mordin and Zaeed weren't stuck in the middle of. The guard at the door to the docking bay was one she knew, a human who was also from Fhel Prime. She tried to relax and act casual which she found hard since Kuril just tried to kill her. "What's going on?" she coughed a few times to mask the hoarse voice.

"Looks like a malfunction in the max wing, better get out of here." He said and she patted his arm.

The unplanned plan may have been improvised but all things considered it went well, she couldn't get through the door fast enough and swiftly made her way to the airlock with Zaeed, Mordin, and the cryo chamber.

By the time she got there she was shaking like a leaf as the adrenalin crashed. "What happened to you?" Zaeed asked and she doubled over bracing her hands on her thighs.

"Doesn't matter." She coughed, her throat was sore but not like a cold, and she hit the airlock button. "Moreau, get us out of here and step on it."

Zaeed was worried, she was shaken. It was hard to shake her up and he could see the red marks on her throat. "What happened?"

"I just made an enemy."

* * *

The mirror reflected her mistake, Zaeed saw the proof, Garrus saw the proof, and now she saw what she felt. It had been nearly two hours and Kuril's left handprint was damn near perfect around her throat. She grimaced when she prodded the tender flesh; it was a bruise that you tell stories about, survived a notorious Turian Mercenary hand to hand. Something told her she wasn't going to be proud of it. Zaeed was going to grunt and glare and silently lecture her for being stupid but then again he was the man who nearly got strangled by a Hanar merc. Garrus was going to be the worst, he was against her going over there in the first place and she told him that she could handle Kuril. Turned out Kuril nearly handled her.

"Perfect," she grumbled and her voice sounded like she smoked a pack of cigarettes.

"You said you had it handled," Garrus said loudly as he barged in.

Isla pulled the plain grey shirt over her head leaving her barefoot in Cerberus' white and black pants and a simple shirt. "And I handled it," she croaked and then hacked a few times, it was no use this was not a cold or something stuck in her throat.

Garrus' blood boiled seeing the marks of Kuril trying to choke her. "Isla…," he growled irritated and upset.

She glared at the heavens. "For the love of…he knew," she admitted but managed to sound all the more annoyed. "You were right. Zaeed was right. He knew I flipped and tried to force me to stay. He was going to ransom me off to Santiago."

"So much for the 'Turian you knew'," he snipped in a condescending hiss.

Isla grumbled. "Garrus, shut up," she snapped back. "Kuril may have wanted to kick my ass for lying to him and betraying the Blue Suns but he protected me against Vido many times. He never would have handed me over." It was a complicated battery of emotions that she felt; she'd had a connection to Kuril and found herself actually mourning that loss.

Garrus' eyes narrowed. "You didn't kill him."

Isla paused. She should have, she really should have. "I couldn't." Garrus read her tone and didn't say anything to that even though he _really_ wanted to yell at her for it. "I could have and I should have but I couldn't."

Garrus backed off; it was easy to forget with all they had been through already that they didn't actually know each other that well. "Are you okay?" he asked realizing that he really should have led with that.

Her hand went to her throat and she nodded. "Yeah. I'm alright, Garrus…I was just hoping not to burn every bridge I've ever created. He'll be a problem later."

"Don't worry about that. If he wants you he'll have to come through me," he said and she couldn't be as optimistic as he was but she shrugged and turned from him.

"How's it going out there?" she asked changing the subject.

Garrus allowed the change of topic; he didn't want his worry for her to ruin any relationship they might have. He was a hot head and he knew that. "Oh, well, that's fun. Turns out 'Jack' is a psychotic super biotic ex-con with a really foul mouth and a chip on her shoulder."

Isla harrumphed. "Kuril seemed surprised that we wanted…her. Why does Shepard want her?"

"To save a galaxy," he answered and Isla paused in pulling her hair, still wet from the shower, into a ponytail. She scoffed and Garrus read her mind. "Don't laugh, it's true. Sidda already kicked Saren and Sovereign in the teeth, I have complete faith that she can do that with the Collectors."

"You sound like you're in love," she teased and Garrus snorted loudly.

Garrus shrugged. "Many Turians do," he replied and she gave him a strange look. "But I'm not one of them. The two that do…it's like a Skycar wreck, you just can't look away."

"Oh…someone likes the soap operas," she chuckled.

"Way more explosions than that," he muttered. "Sidda did want to talk to you though." She nodded quietly and started to pass him. His right hand gently gripped her arm, effectively stopping her. "Isla, I…," he began and then suddenly stopped, he'd spent a lot of time and effort keeping her at a distance it felt strange to voice his feelings. "I'm glad you're okay… don't scare me like that anymore."

Isla flushed at his words and turned to face him, she stood so close to him she could feel the body heat. Garrus usually shied away from the close proximity but they weren't on Omega anymore and she reached up pulling his head to hers in a kiss. Kissing was an emotional display foreign to most Turians, he'd never been kissed before but he understood the meaning and pulled her close.

* * *

Isla wasn't particularly thrilled with the Cerberus crew; they were terrorists, Human supremacists. As a former Blue Suns mercenary she figured the Cerberus crew eyed her with the same opinion and suspicion. The Blue Suns may have started as a legitimate security organization but it certainly wasn't now; they were criminals. Garrus had told her that Sidda and Cerberus didn't really get along so it was perplexing to see her on a ship full of them. She was the boss, that was clear, but it still begged the question. Garrus trusted her and for that she gave Sidda the benefit of the doubt.

Sidda's quarters were three times bigger than what she had on Omega. The bathroom alone was half the size of her apartment. The fish tank was a nice sight; Omega didn't have many of those, only Aria and those rich enough to support it. The colors were beautiful and she smiled just looking at it.

"So where are you from?" Sidda asked taking her away from looking at the clear blue tank.

"Fhel Prime," she answered as the Commander popped the top off a bottle of Scotch. "Though I haven't been there since I was 8, practically grew up on Omega."

Sidda raised the bottle to offer a drink. Isla shook her head, she never liked Scotch. "Colony kid," she commented with a snort and Isla gave a slight smile. There was no mean tone in the comment and Isla was proud of being a colony kid. "That explains the toughness."

"Proud of it, you?"

Sidda was born in the Medical Bay of an Alliance ship. " _SSV Nightingale_ , Alliance hospital ship."

"Oh, an Alliance Brat," Isla replied as Sidda offered her a seat on the couch. "You were born for this."

"Literally," she chided. "Are you okay?" she asked gesturing to the marks on her neck. Isla didn't say anything but she nodded. "So what happened?"

She didn't want to get into the whole thing, no one liked to admit when they totally fuck up. "Kuril knew. He gave me an ultimatum and we disagreed."

Sidda liked Isla, she so unassuming. The smile, the accent, the pretty face…no wonder Garrus liked her. "Well, I wanted to thank you for helping today. Who knows what would have happened if I went."

Isla knew. It was one thing she knew for certain, she knew exactly how Kuril would react to someone like the undead Shepard showing up on his doorstep. "He would have tried to capture you and if that didn't pan out kill you and keep his payday."

Isla's words were decisive and left little room for any interpretation other than her own. But Sidda knew that Kuril wasn't dead. He'd be a problem later. "So what are your plans? Obviously, your Blue Suns status has been revoked and if all your buddies respond like Kuril, nowhere is gonna be safe for you."

"I can take care of myself."

The marks on her neck, familiar to Sidda as a Turian's hand, said otherwise but the flipside to that was that she was still alive which meant she overpowered the Turian to some extent. "No doubt," she replied. "But Garrus will kill me if I don't invite you to stay. Someone with your knowledge of the Terminus and Blue Suns activity could be incredibly useful. You are welcome to stay."

From what she had been told by Garrus, Sidda was going to need all the help she could beg, borrow, or steal. "Garrus tells me you're going to save the galaxy from the Collectors."

"And the Reapers."

Reapers, the boogeyman of the galaxy. She remembered a lot of noise going around about the Reapers a few years ago when the Citadel was attacked by the Geth and Saren. Then it all seemed to stop about six months later. Isla wasn't sure if she believed it, how could a hyper evolved race of malevolent machines exist? "Right," she said and sighed, the only reason she was here was because of Garrus. She ran across a bridge in a firestorm to get to him and she wasn't about to leave now. "If anything else, I'll stick around to make sure Garrus doesn't try to eat anymore rockets."

Sidda chuckled. "He is a hot head isn't he?"

Sidda would know better than she did. What Isla knew of him personally would fill a shot glass; it was hard to get to know someone who lived in the shadows under a codename, who never took his helmet off, never spoke of family, or his past out of fear that anyone he got close to became an instant target. "He's a lot quieter now but I suppose you're right…you don't become 'Archangel' without a little flare of the dramatic and hot temper. He lost his whole team…he's changed."

"I noticed," Sidda commented. Garrus didn't want to talk about that yet and she wasn't going to go behind his back and ask someone else. She got the impression that Isla wouldn't tell her anyway. She wouldn't if the roles were reversed. "So what do you know about Korlus? I have a Krogan to retrieve."


	4. Chapter 4: Meant to Be

_**Note: So...here's the chapter I've been waiting post. The evolution of the characters and relationships. There's lots of stuff going on in this chapter and the answer to a mystery that has plagued one of my characters and something that some of you peeps have been waiting on.**_

 _ **Please enjoy and as always feedback is welcome.**_

 _ **I did listen to a few songs while writing this out but one really stands out**_

 _ **Try by Pink  
**_

 _ **I give you Chapter Four: Meant to Be**_

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Chapter Four: Meant to Be**

Victus had read the message over a dozen times. This had to be a joke and when he found the person responsible he was going to take them apart with a dull spoon. The problem was that the more he read it the more the little voice in his head told him that it wasn't a trick. Now he had two sides of himself at war; the logical side that spent over a year letting her go and moving on and the crushed romantic side that just wanted her back. He went the way he always did, with logic and summoned Maridus.

"Sir?" Maridus asked as he found the General in the War Room.

Victus turned to his second in command. Maridus was a Colonel now, a well-deserved promotion and Medal of Valor for his actions on Taetrus during the brief but bloody war with the Separatists. "Read that."

Maridus tapped the screen and leaned in close. His face fell and Victus thought it was the same one his was when he first read it. "This is somebody's idea of a joke." Victus grunted part of him thought the same thing but there was another part that wanted to believe it. Maridus' eyes narrowed at his mentor. "You think it's real."

Victus waited to respond thinking about the right response. "Maybe," he said finally. "Send a response. Meet at the Citadel."

Maridus was dubious about this, if it was her that was good and bad. Victus had changed, the dynamic on the ship had changed, people who'd gotten along and served together for years didn't work well together anymore. "I suggest Cerrus and I go to confirm." He didn't want to think of the mess this could cause but if Sidda was truly alive they needed to confirm.

Victus gave a singular nod of agreement. His mind was already a clouded mess that he didn't want to think about.

* * *

Sidda didn't think she'd ever scrub herself clean or get rid of the stench stuck in her nose. Isla called Korlus a garbage scow with a climate and there couldn't have been a description more dead on that that. It seemed like everywhere Sidda went lately the Blue Suns were there, Omega, Purgatory, Korlus…she couldn't go five feet without tripping over one.

"I'm serious, Isla, the Blue Suns are like roaches, squash one cell 30 more take their place. I mean really…"

Isla couldn't wait to get out of her armor, Korlus was a hot planet and she could feel the sweat soaking through the clothes under her armor. "The Blue Suns are the largest, most prevalent Mercenary group in the Terminus…I'd get used to it."

"Terrific," she muttered. The benefit of having Isla onboard was her knowledge of the faction. "Next time we hit the Citadel you need new armor. I almost shot you twice." The mercenary grunted a response and headed to the crew deck for a shower as Sidda did the same but headed to her quarters for her own shower away from everyone else.

The shower felt better than sex. Korlus was hell; she was certain she found hot, humid, stinky hell and it felt so good to shower it away. During the course of the shower she heard her terminal beep. New mail. She'd check it later. She had a new member on her team, a tank bred baby Krogan. Baby was a bit of a stretch considering he was fully grown and ready for action; of course her Cerberus chaperones were up in arms about it all. 'Krogan can't be trusted' and the same nonsense that kept the bad blood flowing. Having a pure Krogan ready to take on the Collectors sounded like a good idea to her; Wrex was enough to strike fear into the hearts and minds of the enemy, Sidda wondered how this one would perform.

She toweled off padded around with only a towel wrapped around her body. Though she was confident she found all the surveillance devices that still left EDI to spy on her. The first email she found when she began sorting made her sit down. She actually got a response. Victus responded to her message and asked her to meet on the Citadel. Sidda went numb and she couldn't honestly tell how long she sat and stared at it but when she came back to her senses she keyed Joker. "Joker, take us to the Citadel."

* * *

Maridus paced as Cerrus perched on the railing. The pacing was nerves for Maridus, the idea of his friend Sidda being alive was a lot to take in. He had hundreds of questions but the biggest one was the obvious one: where had she been all this time?

"We should not be here," Cerrus commented as he lost count of how many times Maridus had paced the area. Maridus said nothing but his brief glower spoke volumes. "Colonel, this is a waste of time. I thought we were past all this, she's dead. I thought he let it all go."

"He did," Maridus answered. Cerrus was the best person to come with him to verify if it was a trap. He'd question everything but his personality grated.

"So why are we here?"

"Because the letter he got sounds strikingly like Sidda," he replied and was amazed how calm he sounded despite his irritation. "If it was Anara wouldn't you want to know?"

The short answer to that was, yes. The only information he had about her above classified death was she died on Tuchanka in 2176, but even if he got word that Anara was still alive he'd be suspicious. "People don't come back from the dead, Damar," he shot back through slight grumble.

"Do you have to be such an asshole all the time?"

Cerrus huffed irritated. Most of people's opinion of him was well earned but he wasn't heartless, if he was he wouldn't worry so much. "Why is it people assume I don't care?" he griped. "I understand loss better than most."

Maridus paused. Cerrus was a bit perplexing; he was a logical, straightforward soldier and thought that way both personally and professionally. Victus respected him for that but it made him a hard man to like. He was about to respond when he saw her. Even Cerrus stood up straight.

Her hair was shorter framing her face in thick brown locks and the shrapnel scars were gone and she had faint new ones but if this wasn't Sidda she was a damn good look alike. She swallowed thickly and offered him a smile. "Damar," she said through a happy smile.

Maridus was shocked to say the least and he looked back at Cerrus finding the same expression on his face as well. He had no idea what to say so instead of the dumbfounded look he tapped his Omni-tool to scan her. Sidda patiently waited a few seconds for his device to beep. "Sidda?" he questioned as the scan proved that it was her not an imposter.

She smiled broadly. It was an awkward situation, how do you have a conversation with people who thought you were dead. "Hi, Damar."

Maridus stepped toward her and extended his hand. "Where have you been?"

"Dead," she answered simply gripping his hand tightly.

"Bit of an exaggeration don't you think?" Cerrus commented and Maridus dropped his head. Cerrus was doing exactly what Maridus expected him to do. He wasn't going to be bound by personal feelings with Sidda so he would scrutinize where Maridus might not. Still, it was annoying.

Sidda simply smiled. "Nice to see you too, Cerrus."

"Explain," he ordered keeping his tone even but firm.

"Damn, he's still blunt," Sidda said with a snort and Maridus shrugged slightly. He wouldn't have been that blunt but the question remained.

"Question still stands, Sid, we were told you were dead and the Alliance never found your body." Maridus replied and she sighed.

Sidda hadn't quite worked out the simplified explanation just yet but there was no time like the present. How do you tell a friend that you were dead but were now alive? "Clinically dead for 2 years and change, they just finished piecing me back together."

Maridus beat Cerrus to the next obvious question. "Who?"

Lying would be counterproductive and she didn't want to do that to them. "Cerberus."

Cerrus' weight sifted from foot to foot. They had all heard of Cerberus, they had all encountered the organization in some way shape or form. Cerrus remembered them from the survivor of Akuze. "Cerberus? As in the-…" Cerrus began and she cut him off.

"The terrorist organization, yes." She finished for him.

"Why?" Cerrus beat Maridus to the punch this time.

She gave a casual shrug. "They need me," she commented. "Human colonies are disappearing. If it's all the same to you I don't really want to get into the specifics right now."

Cerrus and Maridus traded looks. "The readings show a lot of implants, Sid. Prove it."

Sidda sighed and looked at Maridus trying to think of something personal that someone might not know unless she knew him. "You're claustrophobic."

"That's in my file," he countered and Sidda thought a moment. Maridus didn't really have embarrassing or dirty little secrets, she never thought of that before. He was a golden child, top of his class at the academy; son of two Generals, married to Garrus' sister, served with Victus the longest…it was all personal but all public.

"On Nebewa you were captured and tortured by Cerberus cell called Hellhound." She said and Maridus raised his eyebrows. It wasn't personal but it was information on a Spectre mission that consisted of just three of them.

"That's not," he replied and Cerrus shook his head.

"She could have found that out working for Cerberus," Cerrus said and Maridus couldn't argue with him. This was why he immediately thought of Cerrus to come with him even if he was an ass.

Sidda sighed; she understood the suspicion and looked to Cerrus. He was easy. "How's the love bite?" she asked with a wink. No one talked about Oriso, he never told anyone that a human marked him and the scar had healed seamlessly. Cerrus straightened. His typical tick to show he was uncomfortable. "Talk to Tali lately? I saw her on Freedom's Progress." Now Cerrus' mandibles clenched. "I know what you two are here for. To vet me. Ask me whatever you want, take as many scan's as you want, but I'm me."

Maridus believed her and looked to Cerrus who, despite his ridged posture now, did as well. "Get the General."

Cerrus left and Sidda cocked her head to the right studying him. "What the hell happen-…who rearranged your face?" she asked seeing the shiny metal synthetic mandible and several implants on his left jaw both upper and lower.

Maridus looked down, after two years it still wasn't a topic he liked discussing. He was fine with what Victus had done but having to endure a lot of reconstructive surgery and dealing with his mate was a bit of a pain in the ass. "The General."

Sidda was shocked. She didn't expect that answer. "What? Why?" she asked getting closer to inspect his face. Victus was a very controlled man; she refused to believe that he did this.

"I mighta…kinda pushed him into it," he said and leaned back on the railing.

"What happened?" she asked looking at him as he batted her hands away from his face. "Why would Adrien do that to you?"

Maridus didn't want to talk about this; he didn't blame Victus but still would rather not tell her about the dark path her mate was on for a while. "I really think you should ask the General."

Sidda shook her head growing irritated. "Damar, damnit…"

He relented and huffed. "It was when you died," he stated, and blinked at the way that sounded. "Garrus came by personally to tell him. The General became quieter than he usually is and I know him…that wasn't a good thing. At first he wouldn't talk to anyone then he buried himself in work then he tried to deny almost everything. He had to talk I knew that, Tarquin couldn't even get him to talk," he added and cut to the chase. "Long story short I tried to push him into talking in the Training Room but he didn't want to talk…so I pushed him for any type of response." Sidda could see the result of that, it was plain as day. "Which I got. He lost complete control; it took three of them to pull him off me. I've never seen or heard of the General losing control like that. Truthfully, I don't remember much…," he added and paused thankful to any god that would listen for that little detail, "which is fine by me."

Sidda was horrified and couldn't help but feel responsible. "Are you okay?"

"Cybernetic implants in my jaw, 5 reconstructive surgeries, few new teeth, and a synthetic mandible. I can't spar anymore…doctors say it's post-traumatic stress." It wasn't her fault that she died but the ripple effect was felt by all who knew her. He could see the look on her face and sighed, this was depressing. "I don't blame him, Sidda. He loves you, losing you almost killed him, I'd feel the same way if Solana died."

She had the same feeling as him and changed the subject. "So what's new…besides half your face?"

Maridus chuckled; Sidda's humor was still there. "I'm a Colonel now," he said with a slight shrug.

"Congratulations. How's your mate? Oh and last I knew you had a baby on the way."

He nodded with a smile. He missed his family; he'd rather be back on Palaven right now. "Solana is good. We had a daughter."

"Please tell me you didn't name her after me," she droned and he laughed.

"No. Ellia."

"Ellia Maridus…very nice ring to it," she smiled approvingly. They continued to chat for several minutes, the conversation was still awkward but the more they talked the more they fell into old rhythms. The friendship was still there.

Movement to his right caught his eye and he looked over to see Cerrus returning with Victus. Victus paused ten feet from them looking coiled like spring. Victus felt his heart increase the moment he saw her, he didn't need to ask a battery of questions to know that was her. "Sidda," he breathed in the same shocked tone as nearly everyone else when they saw her. "Spirits," he said and blinked a few times. "I didn't believe it when I got the message." Now he didn't know what to do, he spent nearly a year wishing she was a live and another year putting himself back together, now she was here, alive and well and standing in front of him like nothing happened.

For her it didn't feel like two years, she didn't know how he was going to react. Would he pick up like nothing happened or had he simply moved on? The door to his quarters opened and when she stepped in it was like Victus had seen a ghost. He was shocked. It had taken nearly a year for him to come to grips with her being dead and now she was standing in front of him with a few new scars but still the same old Sidda.

Maridus gave a jerk of his head to Cerrus and they vacated the area letting Sidda and Victus have some privacy. Whatever else it may be…it was not going to be a fun conversation, a lot of things had changed.

Sidda's heart skipped a few beats seeing him and she smiled. For her it had been just a few weeks since she saw him last, right before being sent to the Terminus. "Hi," she greeted in a sheepish awkward tone. "I guess I should say you haven't aged a day," she joked. "You look great."

Sidda took a step toward him wanting to fall into his embrace but Victus took a step back maintaining the distance between them. Sidda felt her heart sink and he saw it in her face.

He felt like he was going to fall apart so he flipped the military switch, as it were. "I can't, Sid," he said and sighed, this was harder than he had anticipated hell he never expected to speak to her again so this was beyond his wheel house. "Sidda, I'm sorry…it took me a long time to get over you. I can't do that again…I'm sorry," he said quietly and Sidda half expected this. Part of her understood how long she had been dead and the consequences of such.

There was a flicker of heartbreak in her face and he saw it before she effectively masked it with the same blank look that he had. He felt his own chest go tight, it killed him to do this but the past two years were nearly worse than when Miral died, he couldn't do this again. "I see." She said and didn't realize that her throat went as dry as paper. She cleared her throat and blinked looking away from him. "I…I understand," she added and did her best to pull herself under control.

She wasn't and he could see that. "Sid-…" he began but she held up her hand and cut him off.

"Adrien," she breathed and sighed aggravated that it came out shaky, "its fine…I understand." She felt like she was gonna burst but forced herself to keep it together. "I'll go. I just felt that you would want to know that I'm not dead. I'll…I'll go."

Victus stepped toward her and gently put a hand on her arm. "Sid…stop. I'm sorry, I just can't do it."

It was hard to hear, very hard to hear but she wasn't going to fight and cry about it. It had been two years and he had to suffer thinking she was dead. She understood but it hurt. "Adrien, I understand-…"

"No you don't," he interrupted in a slightly raised tone. He didn't want to fight and he didn't want to argue, he just wanted to see her again. "Here," he sighed trying to stay as disconnected as possible. He opened her right hand and placed her tag in her palm. "Your mother let me keep it. You should have it back."

"You met my mother?"

"At your funeral on _Arcturus,"_ he answered with a nod. "And I was sorry to hear about your father."

She gave him a surprised look. Her father dying of a heart attack last year was just one of the many things that she'd been hit with, she hadn't even spoken to her mother yet. "No one knows," she said and cleared her throat trying to mask the lump that had formed. "I uhh…it's just one of the many things that's changed. Two years is a long time."

Victus fought himself, he still loved her but he couldn't put himself through losing someone else he cared about. He came to terms with Miral's death and with Sidda's death so seeing her alive was a shock to his system and he refused to let himself be so compromised again. "I'm sorry, Sidda."

Sidda swallowed. "Stop saying that," she said and turned from him. "I should go."

He broke her heart and he knew it. This was the hardest thing he'd ever done. "Sidda…" she didn't answer and kept walking.

Victus moved to lean on the railing gripping it tight enough to leave marks. Part of him screamed that he'd just made the biggest mistake of his life but the rest of him told him that it was for the best, no matter how much it hurt. Sidda dying affected him in ways he never anticipated and he nearly killed a friend because of it. "Maridus," he called knowing that Cerrus and Maridus hadn't gone far and probably saw the entire exchange.

"Sir?" Maridus answered moving to him.

"Tell the rest she's alive. They'll want to know," he said and Maridus could think of at least one that would want to know more than Victus himself.

Maridus nodded and lingered a moment. "Are you alright, Sir?"

There was a pause before Victus answered and he answered honestly. "No. No, I'm really not."

* * *

Sidda made her way through the _Lante_ feeling right at home again. This ship was her home for a year and the crew was like family. Maridus and Cerrus were taking her through the ship making sure no one panicked seeing her up and walking around again.

"So you're a major now?" she questioned and Cerrus gave a nod. "Finally broke that glass ceiling…congratulations."

"Thank you," he nodded simply. Maridus split off as Sidda continued to walk with Cerrus into the Training Room.

The fact that Victus had moved on from her over the past two years was what a part of her had expected, it hurt but she kept that to herself as she made her rounds to the old faces that were still onboard. The Training Room was her typical haunt when she was assigned and it was still a place to find the unit members. She and Cerrus walked in on a spirited debate between Ruvvak and Kalvaris over who had a better takedown technique.

"I always found grabbing the crest was a good way to take a Turian down," she tossed in getting their attention. Cerrus sighed and leaned on the wall, he was the one she used that maneuver on. He had to admit it was good move but his neck hurt for days.

Kalvaris and Ruvvak looked at her and were shocked that she was standing there. Last thing they knew she was dead, killed in an attack on her ship while she saved her crew. They were told she was alive but didn't believe it until they saw it.

"Son of a bitch!" Kalvaris exclaimed. "Sidda!"

"I don't know if I should hug her or shoot her," Ruvvak commented, up until 30 seconds ago Sidda was dead.

"Please don't shoot me, Linus, I've been shot at enough lately," she replied with a chuckle.

"Man, it's good to see you again!" Ruvvak added as she was nearly crushed by the two Turians scooping her up in hugs. "I knew you couldn't be dead."

Sidda grunted as the Demolitionist squeezed her hard enough to crack her back. "I was dead," she managed out and then grunted loudly. "Oh, put me down, Linus before you kill me again," she griped and Kalvaris noted the missing shrapnel scars from the left side of her face but found new ones. "Lt. Kalvaris, how the hell are you?" she asked swatting his hand away from her face.

"It's Captain now," he replied.

"What is this? Promotions all around?" she chuckled. "You still on Centar?

Kalvaris scoffed. "You think he'd ever let me go?" he chuckled gesturing to Cerrus casually leaning on the wall.

"Holy shit, Shepard…," Masso commented joining them. "You look good for dead."

"Hi, Vhel," she grinned. The only ones she hadn't seen were Rajin, Desala, and Nov.

She turned from them to Cerrus and the big Turian didn't move from his position. "Hey, where's Cal?" she asked and Cerrus waited a moment before answering. "I figured he'd be the first one to maul me at the door."

"That's where Maridus went," he replied.

Sidda narrowed her eyes and looked up at him. "He doesn't know I'm here?"

Cerrus took in a deep breath and sighed it back out. "Nov took your death badly, Maridus wanted to tell him in person rather than just spring it on him," he explained and Sidda's brow furrowed.

"Well, I'll go see him then," she started to walk away but was stopped by Cerrus' hand on her arm.

"Shepard, he is not the same person he was two years ago," he cautioned and Sidda's frown deepened.

"Sidda!" she heard a familiar voice yell and she looked over to see Nov, the red faced Turian had not changed at all, still a tall and broad imposing figure. His eyes found her and she smiled.

Nov froze, stunned…shocked beyond belief. Sidda was standing before him, in the damn flesh. He wasn't dreaming…this was real.

"Cal," she greeted with a smile. Seeing Nov was a shot in the arm to her, he was a big part of her life, he was her best friend and there had always been a tension between them.

Nov hadn't realized that he had stopped breathing all together until his brain forced him to take a breath. He sucked in a sharp breath as he shook his head sharply trying to decide if what he was seeing was real. She was supposed to be dead but if Garrus had been wrong he wasn't going to turn it away. "Sid," he breathed and snatched her up in a tight hug pulling her to him. "Sidda." She heard his voice crack through his emotions and if she didn't know any better she swore he was about to cry. "Oh, Spirits, you're alive."

His embrace felt different somehow, it felt like it was a long time coming. That feeling you get when you are exactly where you are supposed to be. That is what she felt when he squeezed her tight into him. He acted on his feelings this time and kissed her deeply. Sidda froze in place, surprised but didn't pull away, keenly aware that they had an audience. Kissing wasn't a Turian custom; it was a Human and Asari one, as important as touching foreheads to Turians. Nov wasn't going to repeat his mistakes, not this time. The universe was throwing him a second chance. The Spirits were giving him the one thing he wanted and he wasn't going to waste it.

Nov's touch was gentle as he placed his right hand on her cheek. When he broke away she was still confused but not angry. "Umm…hi," she managed out feeling her cheeks burn hot and seeing anywhere that wasn't painted red on Nov flushing blue in embarrassment.

He cleared his throat and blushed more than he ever had in his life to the mix of shocked, surprised, and grinning squad mates around them. "Umm…can…can we talk?" he asked gesturing for her to walk with him. She happily left with him mostly to get away from the countless sets of eyes on her making her blush even more.

Nov caught the glare from Cerrus and ignored it. He'd never approved of Nov's infatuation with her and thought it very inappropriate for him to act on it now. Maridus slapped his shoulder as he passed him. Nov had changed and not for the better when she died, he became reclusive, bitter, and self-destructive.

"Clear out," he ordered and the Rec Room cleared of people. He still couldn't believe she was there in front of him. "Where've you been?" he asked stepping close to her.

"Recently resurrected."

Nov never wanted to let her go again but he stopped himself from wrapping her up in his arms again. He touched her cheek with his right hand trying to make sure she was real. His eyes scanned her, she looked the same but somehow different. Her hair was different, instead of the long solid braid he was accustom to it was cut short, just barely below her chin. The shrapnel scars on her face were gone replaced by new ones that littered her otherwise flawless skin. His heart told him to kiss her again but he decided against it, not yet. "Resurrected?" he asked as he gently placed his right hand on her cheek, feeling her warm skin under his fingers. It was her; she was alive…but how.

"It's a very, very long story as I'm told," she said and Nov could care less if the story took 20 years to tell. He took his right hand away from her and gestured for her to sit down.

"I have time," he said. "I have a lot of time…you know me I love a good story."

* * *

Maridus scoured the Citadel hunting for one person, Sidda was there on the station and he knew Garrus was with her. Sidda told him that he and a friend were shopping for new armor and he found him at the best armor store on the Citadel.

"Vakarian!" he barked in a raised tone causing Garrus to turn suddenly. "I should punch you in the damn face."

Garrus' eyes narrowed at his lifelong friend. The threat raised alarms and his face throbbed at the mere thought of getting slugged in his very tender face, especially by Maridus. "Please don't," he requested when Maridus got to within striking distance.

"You knew Shepard was alive and you didn't think to mention it…what in the hell happened to your face?" His tone never changed from angry but when he saw the bandages and burn on the right side of his face his posture switched to concern.

"Gunship rocket," he supplied as Maridus caught movement from his right, a black haired human female.

"Ouch. Looks like it hurts."

"It does," he answered. "Please don't punch me. I didn't know she was alive until I saw her through my sniper scope on Omega."

"Sniper scope on Omega, what the fuc…forget it, I don't think I want to know," Maridus sighed heavily and looked over at the woman who'd joined them. "Who's this?"

"Isla," she introduced simply and Maridus nodded respectfully.

"Damar Maridus."

There was a slight resemblance between them but Maridus' skin was a dark charcoal color that was striking against his green eyes. She barely saw the blue markings that matched Garrus', but what was even more striking was the shiny silver synthetic mandible and sporadic implants. Something awful happened to him. "You two brothers?"

"Close enough," Maridus answered.

"He's my brother in law," Garrus clarified.

"You guys almost match," she commented referring to their similarly damaged faces.

"He has to copy me at everything," Maridus muttered.

* * *

Sidda gave Nov the abridged version of the Resurrection of Siddalee Shepard, Nov just listened. She told him of the Collectors, Cerberus, the Reapers, building a new and amazing team, the spiffy new _Normandy_. The whole time she spoke Nov just absorbed it like a sponge, he missed her voice, her jokes, and smile. He heard every word and hoped he didn't look like an idiot staring at her.

"So what you're saying is that's it's been a typical week for you," he joked and she laughed.

"Yeah, after a two year long nap the universe is making up for lost time." She chuckled and Nov smiled for the first time in what felt like ages.

"You have not changed and neither has your luck."

She chuckled softly. "Can I ask you a question?" she asked and Nov's nod was slight, she could ask him anything. The question on her mind for the last 30 minutes officially trumped the thought of Victus breaking up with her 5 minutes after seeing her. "Why did you kiss me?"

Nov blushed and ducked his head in embarrassment before looking back up at her. _Time for the truth…finally._ "Truth is I've wanted to do that for years."

For some reason it didn't surprise her. She'd always felt a bond with him, a strong flirty bond. "Why didn't you?"

He tried to tell her a few times but he lost his nerve each time. Some would call him a coward but that wasn't it. He was an honorable man and lived by a code and that code caused him more heartache than anything else in his life but he honored it. "You weren't mine. I couldn't do that to him."

Sidda swallowed hard as her heart started to beat harder against her chest. "What changed?"

"I don't care," he answered. "I want to be with you, Sidda, and I'll fight him to do it." His confession hinged on whether or not she was receptive to the idea, she hadn't slapped him for his very public display in front of everyone so he took that as a good sign.

Sidda nearly broke down; he had no idea that Victus crushed her almost an hour ago. This was so overwhelming she almost lost her strong composure. "Cal-…" she began but was cut short by the beeping of her Omni-tool. She had an incoming message; she managed to keep herself together and answered the beeping. "What?"

" _Hey, Commander, priority message coming in from you-know-who."_ Joker said and Sidda grumbled.

"Yeah, tell him he can wait." She replied with a firm tone. She couldn't decide where she wanted to be right now. Running from Nov's obvious confession but wanting to stay all the same, looking for anywhere other than this ship so she didn't run into Victus, not wanting to go back to the _Normandy_ because she really didn't want to know what new hellhole The Illusive Man was going send her. It was complicated.

" _Right."_ He replied and the line ended.

"Cerberus?" Nov questioned and Sidda grumbled.

"Yeah...probably."

"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in there," he said and Sidda shook her head. The kiss felt great, like it was meant to be but the, the kiss in front of a dozen people was the embarrassing part.

Sidda shook her head and gave him a smile. "It's fine." She said sweetly then thought about what he said before. He didn't care anymore and would fight Victus for her. "Cal, look-…" the same beeping as before interrupted her and she cursed. "Motherfucker. What?"

Garrus' face appeared on the small screen. _"Reunion not going well, Sid?"_ Garrus asked and Sidda cleared her throat.

"Oh yeah, it's a real picnic. Say hi to Cal," she said turning shifting around closer to Nov. The Turian controlled himself.

" _Nov,"_ he acknowledged.

"Garrus, shoulda known you wouldn't be far behind her," he commented as Sidda moved away from him.

Garrus grunted a response. _"We're done here and apparently there's an important message for you. Miranda wasn't everyone back onboard ASAP."_

"Miranda can kiss my ass," she replied making Nov snort. "Round everyone up I'll be there in a bit."

" _Will do."_

Nov stood and moved next to her as she sighed. It was quiet for a moment or two before he spoke. "I'm really glad you're back, Sid." She smiled but felt everything that happened in the last hour surging back so far she'd been able to compose herself but the last thing she wanted to do was break down in front of him. Nov pegged half her smiles as fake and sensed that she was barely holding things together; he kicked himself for being selfish earlier and laying his feelings out in the open. She was here with him. She was _here_ with _him._ "He left you didn't he?" he asked putting together like he should have done earlier.

Sidda's posture slumped a little and let out a ragged breath. "Yeah," she breathed out in a shaky, emotional voice.

 _You insensitive, motherfucker!_ Nov cursed to himself and he saw her barely holding it together. "Damnit, Sid, I'm sorry."

Her vulnerability was brief and she beat it back down turning away from him taking the long way around the table. "I gotta go."

"No, Sidda," he pleaded but she turned in the corridor holding up her hands while walking backwards.

"I'm sorry, Cal, I have to go," she repeated and vanished from sight.

Nov couldn't help but feel her pain, he didn't like to see her hurting, and he didn't like to see someone treating her the way Victus just did. He paced trying to figure out what he was going to do, he couldn't stand it. He wasn't sure how long he'd spent pacing around in the Rec Room but he decided what to do. His empathy switched to anger in an instant and he stormed out.

* * *

He considered the professional suicide he was about to do but since he tenure on the _Lante_ was rapidly nearing its end, he just didn't care. A wedge had been driven between him and the best commander he'd ever served with and it destroyed their relationship. He found Victus in the War Room with Cerrus and Ruvio.

"Victus!" he barked. Just using the tone unleashed the two years of anger. Two years of maintaining professionalism toward the man who won the woman he loved. Two years of watching that man somehow turning it all off letting her go.

Cerrus and Ruvio were startled by the tone and Cerrus' face dropped; Nov body language said it all. "Oh, shit, we're gonna do this now?" he muttered quietly. This powder keg had been waiting for months if not years.

"You are the dumbest son of a bitch I have ever met," he snarled moving right into the General's personal space.

Victus didn't flinch or move but his glare said it all, he was done with Nov being extra insubordinate and far too friendly with Sidda. Not that it matter much now. "Step back, Captain," Victus ordered somehow maintaining his calm. Just because he ended it with Sidda didn't mean it didn't hurt.

Nov defied him. "I am not your subordinate anymore." Years ago Nov never would have spoken those words, he loved serving under Victus. The famous General who cared for more than just advancement up the chain, Nov had never found such freedom in an assignment as he did with Victus. Now it was all crashing down.

"Nov!" Cerrus snapped scolding him but Victus held up a hand. Cerrus growled, they were both stubborn and proud.

"How could you do that to her?" Nov asked but his tone was far from friendly. "She is the best woman in the entire universe. She's been clinically dead for two years, wakes up to a world upside down, and your selfish ass can't even give her the benefit of the doubt."

Nov didn't have a clue. He was young and full of it, he never got over Sidda's death and it changed him. Victus had been through it before, sad to say, and dealt with it the only way he knew how. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Cerrus didn't like where this was heading but so far no one had thrown a punch, miraculously, so he watched. He watched the two top hands on the ship square off, both were emotionally peaked. One a boiled over anger that had been brewing for years and the other the deadlier quiet simmer. He didn't like this one bit.

"Fuck you!" Nov roared. "You don't deserve her, you never did. And for some reason she chose _you._ "

In a flash Victus' body language change, he was going to fight. Nov was right, he wasn't disputing that. He didn't deserve her. "General!" Cerrus boomed. He may have only been a Major but his authoritative voice carried weight and they were both hit by that weight. He didn't want to see this again. Didn't want to testify for his commanding officer's actions when it wasn't even military related.

Neither took a swing and Victus took the high road backing off. "Get off my ship," he ordered in the harshest tone that anyone in the room had ever heard.

"Happily," Nov responded with as much disrespect as he could fit into one word.

"Major," Victus barked loudly to Cerrus. "Get him off my ship, now!"

Cerrus didn't say anything just nodded sharply and followed Nov.

"Sir-…" Ruvio began. One of the rare times she didn't address him by his first name but Victus waved her off. He was fighting his own demons and lit temper at the moment but knew what she was going to say.

"He was leaving anyway. May as well do it a few weeks early," he growled out and Ruvio made a discreet exit.

Cerrus and Nov didn't get too far, through the CIC and to the lift before they had their very own altercation. "Do have a fucking death wish?" he snarled at him shoving him hard into the lift door. "You're lucky he didn't kill you."

"Me?" Nov shoved him back but the purple painted Turian shoved back harder. "I should kill him for what he did to her."

Cerrus had enough of this. They both needed sense knocked into them but it wasn't going to happen. "All this because of a fucking female!" he yelled gaining the attention of _everyone_ in the CIC.

The lift dinged and Nov pushed Cerrus back from him roughly. "You have no room talk."

Somehow Cerrus didn't take his head off but the rage was building in him now too. They both stepped onto the lift and turned in unison as career soldiers learn to do absentmindedly. Cerrus glared at him. "You are an idiot and a fucking asshole." Nov glared over at him. It was now complete, exactly what Cerrus warned him of. He had become Cerrus.

* * *

Even when Sidda got back on the _Normandy_ she still couldn't have her breakdown, no, of course not, everyone wanted her undivided attention. She took the call from The Illusive Man; Horizon was the next stop apparently and settled their newest recruit into her quarters. Kasumi was an interesting addition, a Master Thief that needed help retrieving a Gray Box. Everyone wanted something for their service and Kasumi was no different. She had a nice sense of humor though and she and Isla hit it off pretty well. They both also hit it off well with Grunt, the full grown 'baby' Krogan had a soft spot for Isla since she didn't take his shit and apparently thought Kasumi was cute.

The door in her quarters closed behind her and she didn't get far before dropping to her knees and started crying. She should have just left it alone. Should have just let Victus go on thinking that she was dead. Embark on the mission that was going to get her killed and all would be right with the universe. She couldn't handle this; she didn't know how to handle this. It all was too much to deal with at once but there was nothing she could do about it now so all she did was cry and lose track of just how long she did.

Mordin was hard at work in the Tech Lab, now was the time to see if recruiting him through Vorcha-ville on Omega was worth it. If anyone could come up with a countermeasure against the Seeker Swarm it was him. Time to deliver.

"Professor," she greeted. She was tired and he could see that but didn't comment.

"Commander, will have countermeasure ready before we reach Omega," he informed and she gave him a quiet nod.

"Will it work?"

"Remains to be proven. Untested technology," he answered and Sidda took the honest answer. She wanted to talk about something, anything else. Anything to distract her from the emotional download she just got.

It occurred to her that she didn't know too much about him. She knew he was STG and a brilliant scientist. "So, tell me about you, Mordin," Sidda asked perching on the counter on the wall across from him.

The hyper-active Salarian tapped a few things and took a step back from the console. "Happy to," Mordin replied. "Worked on Omega, Genophage research project, worked with STG, even did an operation with Turian escort."

Sidda's head cocked at the past part. She already knew that he worked on the Genophage, not something she particularly liked since the Genophage was morally questionable to say the least. "Where?"

"Tuchanka, several years ago, Cabal operative, ending was…problematic."

Sidda narrowed her eyes. "Problematic?"

"Had to kill her. Mission parameters; dispose of liabilities. Hated doing it. Very pleasant for a Turian female, from Chatti I believe she said. Married too."

Sidda blinked, he killed his Turian escort and that was all he had to say about it. "I wouldn't tell the Turian government that."

"Nonsense…sanctioned by the hierarchy. Distasteful…but it had to be done," he replied and sighed changing the subject when the console beeped indicating it was completed with its task. "Ground team armor will need to be modified. Will test it myself. I will accompany you." Sidda gave a sharp nod and left without another word.

She passed through the corridor into the armory she found Garrus with Jacob. Garrus stood reassembling a Mattock and praising it every step of the way. He saw her enter and picked up the reassembled weapon pulling it tight into his right shoulder and sighting down it. "Sidda, this gun is amazing."

Sidda chuckled and he set it back down. "Cerberus can certainly make weapons and ships…not much else though."

Jacob rolled his eyes annoyed by her malice toward him. She could care less, he hadn't proven a damn thing to her and neither had Miranda. Rather than feuding with her again about the fact that he wasn't as bad as she made him out to be he left with a sympathetic look from Garrus.

"You should really try to give him a break, Sid," Garrus suggested and Sidda ignored it.

"All brawn no brain," she said and Garrus shook his head. He didn't have a problem with anyone yet but he didn't argue with Sidda. They would prove themselves and that would be all she needed, until then however. "What the hell is up with the thermal clip?"

Garrus chuckled. "Someone's bright idea that stuck, they took the idea from the Geth after the attack on the Citadel. It eliminates the permanent meltdown but-…"

"Limits the firepower and if you run out on the battlefield you're screwed," she finished for him and he couldn't argue with that. "Whoever though about this should be shot…with a weapon that uses the heat sink. Poetic justice."

Garrus laughed then they went silent for a few minutes. He didn't want to ask how it went; judging by how tired she looked it was certain it wasn't well. Maridus kept him sort of up to date on things and knew that things weren't as merry on the _Lante_ as they used to be. "Horizon then?"

Sidda nodded. "Not you. You're still on the injured list." She said and turned to head to the weapons locker but found Garrus' arm shooting up in front of her.

"Sid, my armors fixed. You didn't pull me off Omega to sit on my ass," he argued and she ducked under his arm.

"Garrus, just a few days ago a _rocket_ nearly killed you. A rocket," she replied with particular emphasis on the word 'rocket'. "I'm sorry but I care about you too much to test your kick ass luck with an undefined mission to Horizon that has supposedly been attacked by Collectors."

"You can't stop me, Sidda, so long as nobody slaps me in the face I'm fine," he argued and she snorted shaking her head.

"Fine," she relented. She'd rather have Garrus at her back then anyone else onboard but she did worry about him. He would push himself too far and hurt himself and push himself further. "See Mordin…he needs to update the armor. Tell Kasumi and Grunt too."

"Kasumi and Grunt? Two people we don't know?" he questioned as he took a few steps toward her.

"That's why I have you, Garrus…to watch my back from a Master Thief and a giant ass Krogan," she said and Garrus chuckled.

"Kasumi, sure. Grunt, you're on your own," he answered as they both began preparing to deploy. She snorted softly and sighed. All she could think of was the emotional roller coaster she was currently riding. Victus ended it less than 5 minutes after seeing him again and Nov kissing her in front of everyone then telling her he wanted to be with her. She needed to kill something or go somewhere she could forget about it for a while. Horizon was apparently it.

* * *

 _ **Note: Brownie points to the peeps who figured out the mystery. :) Thanks for reading.**_


	5. Chapter 5: Morality

_**Note: Bit of a shorty or filler type chapter. Does have some character dynamics and development centered on Sidda, Garrus, and Cerberus. Big things around the corner that didn't quite fit in with this chapter content.**_

 _ **I hope y'all are enjoying this, thank you for the favorites and follows. Feedback is always welcome.**_

 _ **Music I listened to for this chapter include Walking on the Sun by Smash Mouth and To Leave Something Behind by Sean Rowe**_

 ** _Please enjoy Chapter Five: Morality_**

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Chapter Five: Morality**

Horizon wasn't fun. From the moment Sidda's feet touched the ground all she could think of was Eden Prime. The same eerie silence was cast over the colony and it brought back uncomfortable memories for her. Nihlus being murdered by Saren, the image that haunted her still, the blue mist of blood as the round ripped through his skull. It stopped her in her tracks as the Kodiak dusted off and Garrus noticed. With a little gentle encouragement she moved on with her team of Mordin, Kasumi, Grunt, and Garrus. Horizon was awful, spooky really. They didn't find the first person until well into the colony but the Collector presence was confirmed. The giant ass ship was her number one clue. There was something very, very off about this place.

"What the hell is that?" Garrus yelled as giant flying bug joined the battlefield. It had a laser for a main weapon and he heard Grunt curse when it made contact with his shields and drained them in seconds.

Sidda bitched under breath. _Hold the tower_. "I don't know, Garrus, why don't you go ask?" Sidda replied sounding irritated and diving into cover as it was content to chase Grunt.

It didn't look friendly, it was also ugly. He'd rather not have a conversation with it. "Pass. Little testy huh?"

Sidda shifted her cover to keep it, now she was glad bringing along a bigger team. "I'm sorry, Garrus, I just get a little uppity when I'm getting shot at constantly!"

"It has a shield. Biotic based. It's vulnerable when on the ground," Mordin shouted as Kasumi cloaked so she could reposition. Grunt roared at it and challenged it ready to go hand to hand but thankfully the tank-bred Krogan was smarter than that. He retreated and it jumped for him, Garrus' heavy concussive shot smacked it in the left side of the 'head' and it staggered.

"Oh, swell," she muttered and heard Grunt hit it with a concussive shot before getting out of the way of its legs…again. "Garrus, can you take it out?"

She asked him because he had the biggest gun. The Mattock was a spectacular weapon but his Spectre sniper rifle was a beast. "Keep it on the ground long enough and I'll turn it into scrap," Garrus answered ducking down behind his cover and tapping a few things on his Omni-tool to adjust his armor piercing settings. Sidda nodded forming the plan.

"Right. Kasumi! Grunt! Mordin! Let's keep it occupied and on the ground!" she shouted and released a shockwave turning four Husks into bowling pins.

Kasumi snorted in response to Sidda's ordered. "Well, you don't want much do you?" she commented but not loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Hit it with everything you got, get it as weak as possible," Garrus advised shifting his focus to the straggling Collector Captains that Mordin was entertaining. He had to hand it to the Salarian…he was way tougher than he looked. Garrus lent him a hand and sniped one and then another that Mordin had frozen…it shattered on contact with the large bore weapon.

"EDI! Time?!" she ordered and opened up a burst on the creature. The almighty Mattock barked and ripped through the Collector creature. It squealed at the damage and turned to find it. Sidda dropped a singularity on it and then a warp causing a biotic explosion that triggered some secondary explosions from fuel tanks. "EDI!" Sidda was having a hard time keeping track of her team and had resorted to weapons file. Grunt's Vindicator she heard, Mordin's Tempest she also tracked, and the Shuriken from Kasumi. They were all still up.

" _Still calculating, Commander, please standby."_

" 'Please standby'…," Sidda grumbled and had to move as Garrus let the sniper rifle speak. It damaged the thing and its barrier bubble went back up. "Jesus Christ, most sophisticated computer in the galaxy and has to take forever to calibrate a gun," she bitched coming to a stop next to Garrus as the creature landed on Grunt and Mordin.

Garrus didn't comment, he was focused, his sniper rifle was better than anything Cerberus had to offer and better than most anything else out there. "Kasumi, hit it with an overload," he calmly ordered.

Kasumi did as asked at the same time Garrus did then he fired and the creature disintegrated into some kind of blue material. It seemed a little anticlimactic when all was said and done and Sidda looked at Garrus. "God damn, Vakarian."

"I love this rifle," Garrus muttered satisfied with himself. "I still got it."

"Yes you do, Garrus. Yes you do," she replied patting his back. "Everyone alright?"

"That was fun," Grunt chuckled. "It was a good fight, Shepard."

Mordin dusted himself off; it _did_ land on him and Grunt. "No lasting damage, Commander, good to be back in the fight."

Sidda nodded to them all. For the first time out together as a team they did pretty well. "EDI? I swear to god…you better be done."

" _Calculations complete."_ EDI replied and the team watched at the global defense system fired. _"GUARDIAN online, firing."_

The massive weapon hit the Collector ship several times and prompted it to run. The ground shook as the behemoth vessel tried to achieve the necessary thrust to get off the ground. "And of course they run like a bitty bitch," she grumbled. It was better than having that thing parked on the colony but she would have liked to have seen the alien ship destroyed not running away with half the Horizon colony onboard.

"Problematic," Mordin observed as Delan came out of hiding and began to shout.

"Look who came out of his bunker." She heard Grunt sneer. Sidda ignored Delan yelling at her to do something to stop them from taking everyone. To that she responded.

"What the hell do you want me to do about it? They're up there, I'm down here. I did everything I could," she snarled and took stock of the situation. All in all her mission was a success. They confirmed the Collector presence, gathered significant useful data, and kicked the Collectors out. One successful mission but she knew in her bones that this was nowhere near over and this was going to get worse before it got better.

"It was a good fight, Shepard, you did all you could," Garrus nodded giving her the praise she deserved. Too many things got hung on her and she was blamed for things that were far beyond her control. Like right now.

"Shepard? As in-…," Delan questioned coming to the realization of who she was; the Hero of the Citadel, first human Spectre, the Alliance's best.

"Commander Siddalee Marie Shepard." A very familiar voice said drawing her attention. "Commander of the _SSV Normandy,_ Hero of Elysium, first human Spectre, and Savior of the Battle of the Citadel."

Sidda blinked seeing Kaidan walking toward her in black armor. "Oh my God, Kaidan," she smiled and stepped toward him. "All this time I've been harassing Anderson for your whereabouts and you were here the whole time." They hugged and Delan had enough of them. The colonist scoffed loudly and walked away. "It's good to see you, Kaidan, you ain't changed a bit."

Kaidan took a step back and Sidda sensed something wrong. "What are you doing here, Sidda?"

She snorted internally, typical Kaidan straight to the point when he was focused. "We got word there was a Collector attack on the colony, that's what I'm investigating," she answered careful to avoid the Cerberus point. Kaidan would lose his mind. "What are you doing out here and why don't you seem surprised that I'm alive."

"We got a tip, Sidda, that you were here…working with Cerberus," he answered quietly and Sidda swore under her breath. "Help me understand this. We're told that the Collectors are targeting the colonies and Cerberus is involved in something and not long after we get here the Collectors and Cerberus show up."

 _How could he have known? Someone told him…but who?_ She didn't even have to look to see that Garrus was wondering the same thing. "They brought me back to life, Kaidan; the Collectors are targeting human colonies and probably working with the Reapers. It isn't over, Kaidan, Sovereign was just the start."

Kaidan only heard one thing. Cerberus. "So you're working for them." It was a statement not a question and Sidda swallowed.

"I'm not working for them, Kaidan, I'm working…I'm working with them. For the colonies," as soon as she said it she didn't believe it. How could anyone believe that?

Again, Kaidan only heard the fact that Cerberus was involved. He'd been so colored by his past with them it clouded any reasonable judgement he might have had. "I don't believe it," he shook his head in sheer disbelief. They both saw what had been done to Kahoku and Toombs, and the countless others that they didn't find. "You're working with Cerberus, terrorists…Garrus too."

"Damnit, Kaidan, I hate Cerberus just as much as you do but look at the bigger picture here. Cerberus was right about the Collectors attacking here," Garrus said sternly. Kaidan was an intelligent man but they'd seen too much of Cerberus' terrorism for Kaidan to be swayed. Garrus could see the look in his eyes, he thought she was a traitor. He thought Garrus was a traitor.

"I don't believe this…," he said and looked at Sidda. She'd never received that look from him before, disgust, anger, disappointment, and he was ashamed of her. "You're a traitor."

"Don't call her that," Garrus growled and Sidda raised her hand to stop him.

The word hit her like a brick. "I'm not a traitor, Kaidan," she snapped back and he backed away.

Kaidan owed her. She'd saved his life on countless occasions, he aspired to be like her, and she was a hero. Giving her a head start was all he could do. "You better go, Commander, before the Alliance gets here."

"Kaidan!"

"Let him go, Sid. He's right though…we need to go," Garrus said and Sidda changed to barely contained anger. Garrus keyed his comm. "Joker, get the _Normandy_ down here. Get us off this rock."

* * *

Back on the _Normandy_ , Sidda wanted to let the bottle up aggression out. She cried over Victus now she was angry over what happened with Kaidan. Kaidan called her a traitor, blamed what happened on Horizon on her or at least on Cerberus but to him it was the same difference.

" _Got the Illusive Man for you, Commander."_ Joker said and Sidda channeled her very bad past two days into the revelations with what happened on Horizon.

"Oh, perfect, I'm looking to pick a fight," she growled harshly as Garrus followed her into the comm room. They were still in full armor with weapons and all. Dirty, sweaty, hot, tired, and now more than a little aggravated. People gave them a wide berth.

"Should be interesting," the Turian muttered as he stood off to the side.

The QEC came up and Sidda came out swinging. "Shepard, I'm told Horizon was a success. Collector presence confirmed." The Illusive Man greeted noticing Garrus just barely in the view of the halo on the floor.

"Oh, blow it out your ass," she replied and Garrus nearly laughed. He loved that woman. "You knew."

He narrowed his eyes, confused. "I don't follow."

"Bullshit. You knew the Collectors were going to hit Horizon, you tipped off the Alliance. The rep said the only reason they were there was because they got a tip off that something was going to happen and _I_ was going to be there," she snarled. Sidda reminded Garrus of a Turian, he liked that…always had.

"Something did happen."

"They could have evacuated the colony!" she barked. "Now half of it was abducted. Cut the cloak and dagger bullshit and start telling me the fucking truth. I'm not kidding. If you think scorched earth is bad you ain't seen nothing yet. Stop lying to me. How the hell did they know that I'm alive?" Garrus was curious to know what her scorched earth would look like. He was also worried that Cerberus had a 'kill switch' in case she got a little too out of hand.

The Illusive Man maintained his demeanor, unbothered and cool. "We needed to confirm and it confirmed another theory. The Collectors are targeting you."

Sidda blinked and Garrus' eyes narrowed. "You heard me, damnit. Cut the bullshit."

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Not even curious, Commander?" he questioned and Sidda twitched at the question. "I think the Collectors are tracking you, they destroyed the _Normandy_ , and tracked you to Horizon."

Internally, her head spun, externally, she showed next to nothing. "Why?" she asked knowing if she didn't ask Garrus would.

The Illusive Man stamped out the cigarette. "You're a threat, Commander, you killed a Reaper."

Sidda was certain she didn't like that but didn't press it. "Terrific. No more colonies get hit, are we clear? You see a pattern, notify the Alliance."

He nodded quietly. "Fair enough," he said. "I have something else for you, a few more dossiers, continue building your team. I will find a way into the Omega 4 Relay."

Sidda turned and moved away. "Great," she muttered and walked away collecting Garrus as she went.

The Turian paced her. "Targeting you…I don't like the sound of that," Garrus said and Sidda agreed.

"Lot of shit I don't like lately," she griped as they entered the armory, time to stow the armor and weapons.

"Sidda," he stopped her as the door opened. "Kaidan's wrong, okay…you're not a traitor."

"Yeah…yeah for some reason the platitudes just don't work," she said and walked away from him.

Garrus lingered, he didn't like seeing her slipping back into the state of mind she was in after Nihlus was killed. It took Nov to jar her out of it but she was never the same afterward. He was witnessing a relapse and it worried him. He didn't stop her or press her to talk. She'd been through enough.

* * *

Hours passed and the _Normandy_ was in stealth mode moving though a section of space notorious for pirates. She didn't want to pick any unnecessary fights so she had Joker take a leisurely route to the next destination.

Garrus couldn't figure out what he was hearing. It was music but nothing he'd ever heard before. He keyed the comm. "Joker, what in the hell is that racket?"

" _Music,"_ Joker answered, _"the Commander likes the classics."_

Garrus vaguely remembered that. "That's Earth music?"

" _Yep. Old…like 200 years old."_

Garrus followed the noise, hard not to.

The _Normandy_ had a small exercise room, a few weights, a punching bag, and an area just big enough to spar in. Sidda didn't have anyone to spar with, Garrus was probably the only challenge she'd find but his face had been through enough so she took her aggression out on the bag. The music blaring was loud enough to drown out any other noise so she could ignore everything _but_ the music. She did like the old music, anything from the 1940s to the late 2000s made her happy. She loaded her omni-tool with a bunch of songs when she was on the Citadel and now Walking on the Sun was echoing loud enough it hurt Garrus' ears.

"Will you turn that down!" he said in a raised tone over the music as she worked out on the bag. She tapped the Omni-tool and the volume went down some but didn't turn off. Garrus could see that she was upset. She had been upset before she went to Horizon, and now she was even worse. Horizon he was there for, and knew Kaidan had pissed her off, then the Illusive Man. Her mood was more personal. "So what happened with Victus?" he asked leaning into the bag, steadying it for her and her punches came with more force.

Sidda flashed him a brief glance before settling her eyes back on the bag. "How do you think it went?" she replied.

Sidda was really laying into her punches and Garrus grunted. After everything Maridus suffered at his hands Victus just walked away. "Come on, really?"

She didn't look up. "I've been dead for two years, Garrus; it couldn't have ended any other way."

He shook his head, it was hard to believe. How could he just walk away? "I'm sorry, Sidda," he said and she grumbled.

She leaned into the punches even harder for a rapid combo. "People really need to stop saying that. Nov kissed me though…very publicly."

Garrus laughed, now that he had expected. The Turian was in love with her and clearly had been for a while. "Well that was about time…he destroyed the _Lante_ rec room when Maridus and I told him you were dead. Cut up his hands...I think Maridus said 32,000 credits and change in damage."

Sidda paused. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. It's a toss-up on which one took it worse…Victus or him."

Sidda sighed and continued with her workout. Nov didn't tell her that…Maridus didn't tell her that. "No one told me that," she muttered and decided to change the subject. "Did you look at the dossiers?"

"Yep," he replied allowing the subject change. "I think we should get Tali first then head to Illium."

"Agreed," she said and winced at a punch that didn't land where she wanted it jarring her right wrist. "Cerrus will kill me if she gets hurt and I've already died once."

Garrus chuckled. "And he'd make it painful and messy."

She paused and looked up at him with a scoff. "Yeah, because the broken shoulder being the last thing I remember was nice and rosy," she told him and he shrugged, he'd never died and would have to take her word on how it felt. "You wanna spar?"

Garrus wasn't stupid and only had one answer to that. "Not even maybe. You're too angry and my face is stitched together with hopes and dreams and good intentions."

She started again on the bag with a chuckle. "Pussy."

* * *

Grabbing Tali off of Haestrom was a bitch and a half and it was a very good thing that Cerrus wasn't there to see it. Haestrom had an environmental hazard, major radiation in the sunlight and sticking to the shaded areas was easier said than done. She and Garrus had flashbacks to two years ago as they were once again fighting Geth. Picking off the smaller ones wasn't bad, Primes were a bit tricky but with a team of herself, Garrus, and Zaeed –a wealth of combat knowledge between them all –it wasn't bad. The tricky part was getting to Tali herself. A giant Colossus had taken up residence and picked off all of the Quarian Marines but one, Kal'Reegar. They'd managed to turn the thing into scrap, this time a combination of Reegar's rocket launcher and her biotics did the trick while Garrus and Zaeed got bogged down with the thousand other minions around them.

It was nice to have Tali back on board, though. She wasn't happy to see Cerberus and made her disapproval known. She did take the AI onboard better than anyone thought she would but she didn't like Jacob and she didn't like Miranda.

"So, how's things with you and grumpy?" Sidda asked with a teasing grin. They were on the way to Illium and had some time before they arrived.

Tali giggled lightly. "He's not that grumpy…he just doesn't like humans."

"Doesn't like much of anything…gave me the third degree when he saw me, I'm glad to see you two are still together."

"He's really sweet," she replied and Sidda could see the colony sigil of Taetrus displayed on her suit.

Sidda smiled at the sight, Victus gave her a pendant of his. She cursed herself for thinking of that…she hadn't given that back to him yet and wasn't looking forward to it. "Next thing I know you'll be wearing Taetrus colony paint. Anything I should know?"

Tali blushed under the mask. "There haven't been any ceremonies but its close enough." The long distance was rough since she was in the flotilla and he was always deployed somewhere but he never forgot about her and always made her feel like his number one priority.

That surprised Sidda, after everything with his first wife getting seriously involved with someone else seemed unlikely but she was happy all the same.

Two days later they were on Illium. The Asari world was vibrant, full of life, the same as Omega but with better accommodations. No one really _liked_ Illium. To Sidda and Garrus it was too crowded and noisy, Tali was nervous being a Quarian there…waiting for the stigma that followed her people, Grunt and Zaeed simply felt out of place. Isla and Kasumi didn't mind it, a good chance to get away from slums and shitty places but even then they were on guard. Sidda just told Jack to fucking behave.

Liara was on Illium and that was a shock. She was now an information broker and had taken to threatening to flay people with her mind. She pointed her in the direction of both their master assassin and the Justicar. It was a Rochambeau to decide who was first on the hit parade. Garrus said the assassin and Sidda said the Justicar. Garrus won. Collecting the assassin named Thane Krios was interesting, Nassana Dantius she remembered vaguely from years ago. Sidda had killed her sister, a slaver, on Sharjila. Now she was off her rocker crazy and paranoid to the point she had pretty much an entire faction of Eclipse mercs as guards.

Thane was a mystery, terminally ill and willing to go on a suicide mission to atone for his life of death as an assassin. Sidda liked him immediately and even more so when she learned Jacob didn't like him. Sidda had never actually met a Drell before and she found him a bit strange but also was attracted to the cold confidence. Dying or not, he still took out a building full of mercenaries _and_ managed to get his target too.

The Justicar Samara was a bit more of a challenge. Murders, drugs, smuggling, mysterious circumstances…Garrus was in heaven. Jack was just bored. Everyone had their little quirks, caveats, quid pro quos even if they hadn't said anything yet. That just happened to be no different for the Justicar Samara. She was tracking a killer but was hamstrung by the cops to not start an international incident so of course it was her job to fix it. That was her…Miss Fix It.

Running through the warehouse full of canisters that contained a toxic substance called Minagen X3 wasn't much fun either. Everything was going relatively well until Garrus missed and busted a canister. Sidda and Jack felt a surge of biotics plough through their system. The cloud of the stuff was toxic as well as a boost and quickly became a liability. Beyond that everything was old hat…which was alarming. The Eclipse boss was a bitch…literally but between Jack and Sidda's raging biotics she didn't last long. Garrus felt a bit superfluous next to the Psychotic Biotic and the Raging Biotic. And so the Justicar was added to her little merry band of misfits. If she thought the last band was bad it was worse this time. She had cops, criminals, mercs, terrorists, thieves…and Lazarus.

"When Garrus hit that canister," she commented to Jack as they were seated at the table on the crew deck. "I haven't been that high since before the academy."

Jack and Sidda had been closely monitored by Chakwas after being exposed to the substance. It had a lot of the same symptoms and effects as Red Sand but was decidedly more toxic. Jack was able to metabolize it better thanks to her overclocked, experimental amp, but Sidda didn't have that benefit. She had a headache.

"It was damn fine rush," Jack said with a grin. "Wouldn't mind getting some more of it. You handle your biotics pretty good, Shep."

Sidda shrugged. The Alliance trained their Biotics well and N7 was even better. The title of Biotic Specialist came not only with being a total badass with biotics but a mastery of combat as well. Not quite a Vanguard but more than just an Adept. "I didn't get those yellow stripes on my armor for nothing. N7 Biotic Specialist," she said. "Nowhere near as destructive as you though."

The Convict beamed, or as close as she came to beaming, to the comment; she was a badass and she knew it. For as abrasive as she was Jack wasn't too bad so long as people obeyed her personal space issues. Sidda was okay with that.

* * *

Over a week had passed since meeting with Victus and Sidda didn't feel any better about it. She wanted to talk more about what happened with Nov but was almost afraid to ask. So much had changed in two years it was almost painful. To deal with the pain and stress she buried herself in work, investigating leads, venturing down to awful planets, and gathering resources.

The chime on the terminal startled Sidda from sleep. She'd fallen asleep on the couch, exhausted from throwing herself into work. She winced and rubbed her neck as she got up off the couch to see who sent her a message. She tapped it and noticed only one message. _"Hey Sid, whenever you're near the Citadel let me know. I'd like to buy you lunch and talk. – Cal."_ Sidda felt a smile spread across her face at the thought of him offering to buy her lunch. He told her he wanted to be with her and to be quite frank it scared her a little.

" _Commander, please come to the comm room, there's an emergency,"_ Miranda said over the comm and Sidda responded immediately. She didn't care if it came from Miranda; it was a distraction from what Nov had sent.

In the Comm room, Miranda and Jacob seemed alarmed and had the map of a planet pulled on the holo image.

"What's going on?"

"An operative of ours has been captured by the Eclipse. We've been asked to retrieve him." Miranda informed. The explanation was simple and to the point, Sidda appreciated that from the genetically modified human.

"Operative's name is Tyrone Rawlings. He's carrying sensitive information on Cerberus that if leaked could irreparably damage the organization," Jacob continued and Sidda couldn't help but shrug internally. She'd burn Cerberus to the ground if she could and more than likely would once it was appropriate. "Tyrone's tough but we need to get him out of there."

Sidda weighed this carefully; she wasn't entirely sure how far she wanted to go to help Cerberus. "Where's he being held?"

"Lorek in the Omega Nebula."

Sidda scoffed loudly. "Omega Nebula…go fucking figure." A lot went through her mind, Cerberus was the enemy and yet she was working for them. If she let the operative suffer at the hands of Eclipse there was a possibility of whatever he knew getting out to damage Cerberus _but_ the military in her said that she couldn't leave a man behind even if it wasn't one of hers. "Alright, what do we know about the facility?"

* * *

Lorek was hot. Tidally locked with a hot and cold pole, it was a rare planet that was steamy hot on the sunward side and totally frozen on the dark side. Miranda, Jacob, and Garrus were the hit parade this time. Miranda and Jacob were not her first choice to bring but they insisted on coming and because of that she made sure Garrus was along. EDI confirmed that the facility was small so a big team would nullify their number, a small great team would be enough to get the job done. Garrus shouldered his favorite weapon and went for the Mattock, close quarters and a sniper rifle didn't usually mix.

The Kodiak dropped onto the only platform in view and they were immediately attacked. Sidda and Jacob ducked to the left and Garrus and Miranda found cover respectively on the other side of the catwalk.

"They knew we were coming," Garrus announced pointedly like he was saying something he'd already told them a dozen times. In fact he had. He was against this mission, there was no good way to get in without being seen but he was overruled. Miranda pressed to get to Rawlings before they broke him and either end it themselves or rescue him. Jacob pushed for a straight up rescue and for once he and Sidda agreed. "I told you they would know we were coming."

"Can it, Garrus!" Sidda snapped back.

Garrus ignored it and shook his head. "We need to get in there right now or we're gonna be rescuing a dead body!"

"I heard you the first ten times, Garrus!" she barked and heard the Turian growl. "The facility is not that big, there can't be too many in there. Taylor and I will move first, Garrus, you and Miranda follow suit. We'll leap frog up. Go."

Before they knew it they were inside but it was by no means easier. Now they were off the narrow catwalk that negated numbers and into a big square room with two levels and cover that was either good or bad depending on where you were caught. Salarians and Asari were everywhere and none were easy to bring down. Vanguards, Sentinels, Engineers…they all sucked.

In the enclosed space the two Mattocks sounded like cannons to the point Sidda's ears were ringing. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck," she cursed as she moved around to find more cover. She should have listened to Garrus. She found that her new favorite ability was Reave, the rush she got as she sapped life from the enemy and by the time they'd cleared out the bad guys it'd taken far too long.

"Gonna listen to me next time?" Garrus asked and Sidda growled.

"Do you fucking mind?" she snapped and the Turian grudgingly fell silent. He had been right and she should have listened to him.

"Commander!" She heard Jacob call.

Garrus' mandibles clinched as soon as he entered the small room. He'd seen enough interrogation rooms to know that he'd just walked into a bad one. There was blood on the floor and walls.

Sidda felt her stomach turn as she looked at what was left of the Cerberus Operative, they were too late. "Oh, Jesus," she commented as Jacob ran his Omni-tool over him. It was hard to tell what the man used to look like since his face was so badly beaten. He'd been cut too, his armor had been removed and torture cuts lined his flesh, turning him into a bloody mess. Sidda crinkled her nose. Burned flesh. He was electrocuted too.

"We were too late," the operative said in a remorseful tone.

"Son of a bitch," she cursed quietly.

Garrus wanted to say 'I told you so' but didn't. He turned away and looked at the console to his right. He tapped the keys nearly hard enough to break it. A flurry of encrypted data flooded the screen and he cocked his head to it. As good as he was with encryption this was entirely over his head, he didn't have a shot in hell at decrypting it right there. Nov would even have a rough time with it. "Shepard," he called and Sidda turned away from the remains of the unlucky operative. "Looks like they were trying to break it."

"That's the sensitive data Rawlings was carrying. Probably why he died," Miranda said and turned to look at him as Jacob tended to him respectfully. Garrus ejected the OSD and Sidda snatched it quickly.

"I got it," she said and gestured back to the operative. "Tend to your man. We'll search out there and recall the Kodiak."

Garrus eyed her as she tucked the OSD away safely and went back out into the mess of dead mercenaries. "Sidda?" he questioned but there wasn't really a question in there. His suspicious tone rang through loud and clear, however.

"What?" she asked and rolled a Salarian over with her foot.

"What are you going to do?" he asked. "Never seen you so agreeable with Miranda and Jacob."

"Just search the bodies, Garrus." She replied with a growl.

Garrus cocked his head becoming irritated with her attitude. This wasn't unusual for her, he survived her attitude while chasing Saren but this was beginning to annoy him. "What's wrong with you?"

"You were right, Garrus, I was wrong…we should never have come," she said and walked from him tapping the Omni-tool to call the Kodiak back.

* * *

It took a few hours but the _Normandy_ was back underway. Sidda buried herself in work reviewing data from The Illusive Man and scans that EDI had fed back. She rubbed her eyes and sighed heavily, she wasn't sure what time it was.

"Sid," Garrus greeted and gave her a single nod as he entered the room. "Got our next location?"

"Couple candidates. Still no idea how the hell we're gonna get through the relay," she replied and rubbed her face.

"Hopefully The Illusive Man will come through," Garrus shrugged and observed her. She was complex and had a lot on her mind so he forgave her attitude but he was still worried.

"That'll be the day," she muttered and Garrus snorted as he turned to head out.

"Hey, Garrus," Sidda began and the big Turian stopped in the doorway and half turned to give her his attention. "I'm sorry. You were right, I was wrong; there was no way we could have gotten in there fast enough."

Garrus shrugged it off, she could be abrasive when a lot was on her mind and he understood there _was_ a lot on her mind. "Never happened, Sid."

Sidda smiled appreciating him as a friend. "Thanks for always being there."

Garrus nodded and shifted as Miranda brushed past him. "Commander, where is the data?"

Sidda sat back down at the table. "I sent it to the Alliance."

"You what?" Miranda asked in a quick mix tone of shock and anger.

Even Garrus was surprised. "What?"

Miranda was still shocked at what she'd heard. "That was not your information to give away, Commander."

Sidda didn't move and her expression didn't change. "Cerberus is a terrorist organization."

" _That bitch,"_ Miranda thought. The gall she had to stand there and try to justify her actions. "So you turned Cerberus property over to the Alliance. Our operative died for that information, Commander. We bring you back to life and you spit on it and give intelligence to the Alliance after our operative died to protect it."

Sidda returned to her stacks of datapads. "Not my problem."

"This is a Cerberus ship, Commander; you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for us how about a little gratitude and a little less self-righteousness."

"You're one to talk."

Garrus held up his hand to stop Miranda's next volley. "You crossed the line," he growled and Miranda blinked at the backup she was receiving from a Turian. Sidda was shocked to see Garrus as anything other than an ally. "You had no right to do that, Sidda."

Sidda stood and narrowed her eyes to him. "Are you kidding me, Garrus?" she questioned. "Do you not remember all the shit we saw? The horrific experiments we walked into? The people that died because of them?"

Garrus stepped toward her with a fierce glare. "That man died to prevent that data from falling into the wrong hands. Our job was to save him, we failed. _They_ didn't break him and you walk in and ensure he died in vain."

Sidda didn't know what to say to Garrus at the moment. They'd never been on opposite sides. "Lawson, can you excuse us?"

Miranda protested loudly but Garrus turned to her assuring her that he was going to take care of this. It was surprising to see, to be frank. "The Illusive Man will hear of this."

That didn't faze Sidda. "By all means. Have him call me when he wants to chat."

Garrus prevented another squabble but had never, in the entire time he's known her, seen her like this. "I have never seen you do something despicable, Shepard, until today," he said and heard her grumble loudly.

"Oh, come off it, Garrus," she hissed. "You love the fact that I don't play by the rules."

He growled and moved toward the table leveling a fierce, angry glare at her. "Avoiding the red tape is one thing, _this_ is entirely different. I don't like Cerberus any more than you do. Now all it will take is one word from whoever is in charge and I can't protect you from everyone onboard."

"I don't need your protection," she said and he Garrus slapped his hand on the table with a frustrated noise.

"Then why am I here?!" he roared making her flinch slightly but not out of fear. It was a surprise to see him like this. She'd only seen it once before, on the Citadel with Leena's rapist. "You pull me off Omega, for which I am grateful, but you tell me you want me here to watch your back but I _can't_ do that while you're burning the place down," his tone shifted from a shout to his regular speaking voice. "I don't like Cerberus any more than you do but you have got to figure out how to work with them."

"I do not," she snarled back.

Garrus growled in frustration she was as stubborn as he was. "You spent entirely too much time with Victus," he grumbled and Sidda glowered. "What's going on with you?" The question had multiple aspects to it; Sidda's life had never been simple, or at least it hadn't been simple for the last 5 years, dead or alive, now it was even worse.

Sidda didn't answer at first and the mood seemed to calm between them. "All I can think of is Kahoku…finding him dead and Toombs and all the other…I _can't_ get behind them."

"I know," Garrus nodded and couldn't help but agree with her. Cerberus conducted hundreds of disgusting experiments and they all ended horribly with a body count. "But all it'll take is one order from The Illusive Man and then you could be back on ice. Or some master kill switch."

Sidda lowered her head looking at the ground. "I had to send it, Garrus," she said and Garrus stayed silent. "On the right side of this or not the Alliance needed to know it, even if it takes a while for them to decode it."

Garrus still didn't agree but didn't want to continue in the fight. "I understand but I'll never agree. Just pace yourself with Cerberus," he told her and didn't wait for a response before leaving. Sidda sat down again and let out a heavy sigh, Garrus was right. What had she become?


	6. Chapter 6: Worth Fighting For

_**Note: Sorry for how long this took to get finished. I broke my arm on July 29th so typing has been a bit slow. Once again I screwed with some characters, missions, and plots but I think it came out pretty good.**_

 _ **Spectreofslythrine once asked me if I had intended to write Sidda as Cerrus' counterpart (or vice versa) and that was the reason they didn't get along. At the time I answered no but as writing Sidda evolves I'd have to say yes. This chapter will show some of that.**_

 _ **Thank you Ipander for the review, always a pleasure and you're welcome. ;) Thank you also to the favorites and follows. My broken arm is better(ish) and it's easier to type so at least that's a blessing.**_

 _ **I did listen to some specific songs for this**_ _ **  
**_

 _ **To Leave Something Behind by Sean Rowe (yeah I used it in the last chapter too)  
The Only Thing Worth Fighting For by Lera Lynn  
and  
Taking You Home by Don Henley**_

 _ **Please enjoy Chapter Six: Worth Fighting For**_

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Chapter Six: Worth Fighting For**

The crew quickly heard about what had happened. Sidda received several strongly worded messages from The Illusive Man that she simply ignored. She did get a 'thank you' note from the Alliance for the gift that'll take then years to decode and then a nasty message from her mother asking why she had to hear third hand that her daughter was alive. Sidda avoided that. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk with her mother but it was just too difficult to deal with. If she survived this mess then she would talk to her. It did surprise her that after over a week there had been no more messages from Nov. At least he wasn't pushy. He probably wasn't even on the Citadel anymore.

To avoid all this she'd thrown herself into work, a lot of work; mission after mission as she fell into cleaning up mercenary messes. She was still a Spectre and apparently policing the Wild West was the best use of her time while she waited on the magic bullet to get through the impassible relay.

Tarith was worse than awful. A swampy, foggy, toxic mess. Part of her punishment for giving up sensitive data was the mandatory fixture of a Cerberus operative on her team. Sidda just let it ride, she did over step but she didn't apologize for it.

"Alright, comms are futzy," she began, "and we're blind as a bat." Tarith's chlorine fog blocked their sensors and made a mess of communications. Short range they were okay but it seemed that once out of line of sight they phased out. "Reports of an unknown species too so stay in pairs. Thane, you're with me, Samara and Jacob. Let's figure out this relay."

It was Jacob's turn in the mandatory rotation, it irritated her to some degree but she dealt with it. Her general opinion of him aside, Jacob was a trained soldier who could handle himself in a fight. Just because she didn't like him didn't mean she couldn't see his use.

The fog was so thick that it was hard to see in front of her more than a few feet. It made following the path more dangerous. One bad step and the unknown terrain could spell disaster, which is exactly what happened. They found a clearing where the fog wasn't quite so thick and were attacked by a giant bug-like creature Sidda had never seen before.

"What the hell is that?" Sidda shouted.

"It is a Klixen," Samara informed. "Do not let them get close-…" the Justicar was interrupted when Jacob dodged the fire it breathed. "They breathe fire."

"What the fuck?" Jacob shouted as Sidda's Mattock spoke killing the creature right in front of Jacob. The creature exploded in a ball of fire. "They explode too!?"

They heard a roar from above and then the ground shook. The flying creature hit the ground and more Klixen emerged, the fog didn't help but when the wings of the flying creature flapped it help clear the air. "Great, first fire breathing insects now a damned dragon!" Sidda complained.

They needed to focus and settle, take it one bad guy at a time. Part of her N7 high marks was a command of the battlefield, a battlemaster despite her being a biotic. She could command the battlefield and coordinate all aspects all while lobbing biotics at them. To be a Biotic Specialist she had to have a mastery of both. The dragon, for lack of a better term, was the most visible threat and it seemed that all the Klixen were coming from it. It made a lot of noise, flapped its wings, stomped but that was about it.

"Concentrate on the Klixen," she ordered but wasn't sure who heard her, she still had Thane within eyesight and kept it that way.

The scuffle deteriorated and the terrain didn't help. Samara and Jacob were not out of sight but they could see the occasional flash of biotic power. Sidda and Thane scrambled from two creatures. Sidda shielded herself from one of them exploding causing the one next to it explode. The mad scramble to get out of the way caused Sidda to stumble over the terrain and gravity took over as she plummeted down.

"Thane!" she yelped and the Drell tried to grab her. They both fell, tumbling down a distance they couldn't quite judge. Sidda hit the ground and felt her left leg twinge from her ankle to her knee. She hollered and cursed profusely.

"Commander," Thane began as he appeared over her, "are you injured?"

Sidda shifted and groaned, her armor absorbed most of the impact but she felt the rocks on the way down and definitely when she landed. "Probably," she groaned out in a pained tone. "Help me up." Thane pulled her up carefully and she cried out when she put weight on her leg. "Okay, yeah, definitely hurt."

"Broken?"

"Only if my luck changes," she muttered quietly. All that came to mind was Nov's comment of a 'typical week'. "Nah, I don't think so…just sucks. Where are the rest?"

Thane's Omni-tool scanned her body; the readings were a little distorted but didn't reflect anything broken. "Not sure," he answered and took her hand in his carefully pulling her to her feet letting her use him for support.

"Guess we gotta figure out where the hell we are first. Samara, Jacob, do you copy?" she asked into the comm as she leaned on the Drell, unsurprisingly there was no answer. "So much for an easy one."

* * *

Jacob learned to stay out of the way of post mortem explosion and by the time all the rampaging Klixen were taken care of he and Samara were staring at a steadily thickening chlorine cloud and not much else.

"Where's the Commander?" Jacob asked trying to see through the fog.

"We got separated during the fight. Commander, do you copy?" Samara said but received no response. "Thane, Commander, do you copy?"

"Conditions in the atmosphere are so jacked up the comms can't get through," Jacob said and huffed. "We gotta find them."

"We should complete the mission," Samara said and Jacob turned to look at her.

"We need to find Thane and the Commander."

"With the relay offline and low visibility, that would be ineffective," Samara argued with the soft wisdom of Justicar. "We should continue the mission. As EDI observed, the reactivation of the relay should restore sensors and communications."

"They could be in trouble."

Samara was the element of calm. Task driven and the one with the most experience of _anyone_ on board. "We must continue, Jacob. It would be pointless to wander about hoping to find them. Restore the relay and then we _can_ contact them."

As irritating as it was, the Justicar was right so he followed. To make sure they didn't lose their way or travel in circles Sidda had issued flares, they'd dropped one by the Kodiak and once Samara found the path with the beacons she dropped more flares. Jacob had to admit that Samara was everything her reputation said she'd be. Neither one of them were techs but the beacons were pretty straight forward, activation wise.

* * *

The cloudy green sky brightened some drawing Sidda and Thane's attention as they slowly walked out of the ravine they were stuck in. "You see that?" Sidda asked as she could see the communication towers lighting up above them.

"I do," Thane replied between heavy breaths. He was supporting most of Sidda's weight and slipping in the sand. Kepral Syndrome made it hard for him to breath and the exertion now wasn't making it any easier.

"Looks like some one's getting the mission done," she muttered and tried to ignore the pain in her leg but couldn't ignore the obvious strain Thane appeared to be under. "You doing okay?"

"Fine. Little hard to breathe is all. Perhaps signing on with you wasn't such a good idea," he commented but she cackled. Serious or not she would never have left Illium without him.

"Are you kidding? You walked through two buildings worth of mercenaries without help or any civilian casualties. Regardless, you were coming with me," she said and heard Thane chuckle. Generally, Thane kept to himself, he had a sense of humor he just didn't show it much.

"I'm pleased you value my very specific skillset," he replied and Sidda grunted loudly as she tried to help him as much as possible up the steep incline.

"I think that's the most I've heard you talk at one time," she commented as the climb became easier on them.

Thane liked Sidda, she was fine soldier forced into situations beyond her control. Working for Cerberus, a sworn enemy, to save colonies of innocent people, very noble, he really did like her. "Then I would say, join me more often, Commander, few things are better than speaking with a beautiful woman."

Sidda almost paused but Thane was controlling the pace. He just called her beautiful. "You're the first Drell I've met so tell me, are all of you such smooth flirts?" she asked and Thane let out a soft chuckle.

* * *

"I'm going back for the Commander," Jacob announced as he and Samara were steadily moving up the path following the beacons as indicated.

"We must complete the mission," Samara replied and Jacob huffed.

"Then you continue but I'm going back. They could be trapped or in trouble, I'll use the flares as a point of reference."

"We should not split up, Jacob."

"Continue on," he insisted. "I'll be fine."

Samara debated a moment before continuing on up the path. The Blood Pack needed to be stopped, Sidda was a Spectre currently assigned to the Terminus so she would help police it with her. Part of her told her that she should go with Jacob but the mission came first.

Jacob trotted down the path following the flares left along the way until he returned to the one left for the Kodiak; he didn't need to go to the Kodiak as its sensors were useless in the chlorine fog. He passed the remains of the first creatures they fought and kept moving. Sidda and Thane had to be around here somewhere.

* * *

Thane set Sidda on a rock to rest on after finally clawing their way out of the ravine. He rested his hand on his thighs and composed himself. Physically he was in great shape, like nearly every Drell, the Kepral Syndrome however created issues breathing but he wasn't about to pass out now because he helped haul his injured 'employer' up a hill.

"You good?" she asked and carefully stood. A twinge of pain hit her left leg but she didn't collapse. Thane nodded, at less than three feet from him she could clearly see it. "Alright, let's go find the others."

"How?"

Sidda limped forward and put her left hand on his shoulder as she moved then gestured up to the connecting communication beacons. "Follow the yellow brick road, Toto," she said lightly before remembering Thane wouldn't know the phrase, she headed it off. "Earth book, forget I said anything."

"L. Frank Baum. Very interesting novel," Thane replied and Sidda snorted.

"Thane, you are without a doubt the most interesting assassin I've ever met," she said with a chuckle.

"How many assassins do you know?"

"Alive or dead?" she quipped back and he chuckled.

The more she walked on the injured leg the easier it was but the limp was still noticeable. "I can see a flare, in the distance." The Drell announced. His vision was another reason why Sidda was glad to have him, of everyone on board his vision was far superior. He could actually see through the fog to a point. He pointed out a flare that she couldn't even see. After a moment Thane stopped like he'd seen something else in the distance. "Commander."

In the distance they saw flashing like lightening. It was in the same direction all the beacons were pointing so Sidda and Thane deduced that someone was duking it out in the distance. But that wasn't what he was fixated on. He walked forward a few more feet and knelt down.

"Oh my god," she exclaimed as she knelt down. When Thane rolled the body over she recognized the armor. "Oh my god, Jacob." Both she and Thane's omni-tools lit up at the same time but the scan didn't show and vitals.

"His mask is broken," Thane observed. "He is dead."

Sidda could see that, she could also see the two Klixen in close proximity and melted portions of his armor. "Looks like he died taking them out. Son of a bitch."

Thane took stock of what he could see around him but only saw the Klixen carcasses. "I don't see Samara."

It was the standard understanding of all people in military command that casualties were inevitable. It didn't mean Sidda was okay with it. No one liked losing people no matter who they were or how unpopular but she focused, she thought of the last person she expected to think of; Cerrus. The Turian had a singular focus and no matter how much of a pain in the ass he was she'd learned a lot from him. "She's probably responsible for the lightshow up over the hill," she deduced. "Drop a flare…we'll come back for him."

* * *

Returning to the _Normandy_ was a silent affair, they'd found the Justicar. Samara was the picture of seasoned experience and came strolling off the hill with comms restored to a degree. Chakwas took Jacob's body and Sidda was bombed by Miranda almost immediately.

By the time it was all said and done Sidda was having a really bad day. Chakwas has seen her also, her left leg was not broken but the ankle had a minor sprang and the knee had been twisted. All in all it wasn't terrible just damned inconvenient.

"Look, what do you want from me?" Sidda snapped at Miranda while Chakwas applied the wrap to Sidda's ankle. "I told everyone to stay in pairs."

"So where were you then?"

Clearly Miranda thought she was Superman. "I fell down a damn hole." She'd already told her that, twice.

"It was a ravine slope," Thane clarified.

Miranda was losing her temper with this, Jacob was her friend and now he was dead during a seemly simple mission. "Shut up," she hissed to the Drell. Thane simply cocked his head to one side but fell silent.

"Hey, don't tell him to shut up he saved my ass out there," Sidda snarled.

"You care more for the aliens than you do your own people. You never liked Jacob so you passed him off as soon as you could," Miranda argued back as Chakwas cautiously eyed the room as she finished up the last wrap.

Sidda sneered. She didn't care if it was Human or Hanar, Batarians she could do without but Cerberus was equal opportunity hate, and Sidda hated that. "I don't much like you either but you've survived so far."

"I'll be harder to kill than Jacob."

Sidda was offended. "You think I did this on purpose?"

Miranda was about to answer when Samara spoke up. "It was my error. I should have gone back with him or forced him to stay with me and complete the mission. If you wish to blame someone, Miranda, I believe I am the one."

"Samara, we'll talk about not staying in pairs later. This was an accident, Miranda, an accident," she repeated and stood up trying not to hobble too much. "Now you can report whatever the hell you want back the Illusive Man but if you still think I did this on purpose then you and I are going to have a real problem."

"Whatever happened and whatever the result, it was not the Commander's fault," Thane said quietly and Miranda's reaction wasn't readily identifiable. If she believed them she didn't show it, the Cerberus Operative just left the Medical Bay with a searing glare.

* * *

Sidda sat down on the gun bench across from were Jacob's usual haunt was. She hissed as she laid her wrapped leg flat on the table. She couldn't help but think that Miranda had been correct, she never liked Jacob, she was responsible for his safety and she'd failed miserably in that area.

"Commander?" a familiar voice said and she quickly wiped the escaped tears off her cheeks. "Are you okay?"

It was Thane; to say they'd bonded in that one mission was an understatement. She liked the Drell. He wasn't anything like she'd expected him to be. She didn't answer his question but passed him the bottle of Whiskey she was sipping on. "Have a drink with me?"

Thane thought a moment but graciously accepted the invitation, generally he didn't drink but he would in this case. He inclined his head to her and took a sip.

"I never gave him a chance," she said after a few minutes of silence. "He was Cerberus and I automatically painted him with the same brush I do all of them." Thane stayed silent as she spoke. "He wanted to earn my trust…I was never going to give it to him."

Thane hadn't been around as long as Garrus had but he listened and he read. He read up on past missions and knew of Cerberus' reputation. "What happened was not your fault."

She knew that, she and Thane fell down a damn hole and got separated. Not exactly her finest moment. "I certainly didn't help."

"You did all you could, Siha."

"My translator must have fritzed out there. Siha?"

"One of the warrior-angels of the Goddess Arashu; a fierce and tenacious protector," he explained and Sidda's brow furrowed, she also felt a few butterflies. He gave her a pet name.

"And that's how you see me?"

"From what I've seen, yes, you are a Spectre. One who died and returned to protect the innocent," he explained. "You care for those you are in command of despite your feelings. It is an honor to serve with you."

She smiled though she tried to hide it and the blushing. "I'm flattered, Thane, thank you." Not really sure what else to say that wouldn't sound dumb. The Drell passed the bottle back to her and gave a polite half bow as he turned to leave. "Thane," she called stopping him from walking away. The Drell turned giving her a curious expression, "thank you for your help down there."

The Drell inclined his head and put his hands behind his back, his typical stance. "My pleasure, Siha."

* * *

After enough time spent wallowing in her misery she hobbled her way to find Garrus, Thane was becoming someone else she could trust and confide in but right now she needed Garrus. The Turian was the one person on the ship, including Tali, she could talk to about anything and he'd do anything for her.

She grumbled at the steps leading to the main battery, Chakwas assured her that both the knee and the ankle were just sprained and would heal up good as new but not quick enough. About half way to the door she could hear what sounded like an argument on the other side. One voice was definitely Garrus so she assumed the other was Isla.

"You knew and you didn't tell me!" Garrus barked as they ignored the opening door.

"Of course I told you. By the time I knew what happened you were already under siege," Isla defended and Sidda's brow furrowed.

"You didn't think to mention it afterward!" Garrus yelled and Sidda saw Isla duck her head.

" _Uh-oh,"_ Sidda thought but stayed quiet. She knew Garrus saw her but it appeared that he didn't really care that they now had an audience.

"Garrus, I…I don't…," she began and Garrus' hot temper flared as he slapped a canister off the table that had his rifle on it.

"Sedonis betrayed me and my whole team and you didn't tell me!" he roared in her face. He was angry…really angry and Sidda had only seen this kind of anger from once before.

"Garrus, he didn't have a choice-…," she replied sounding like she was trying to plead her case.

"There's always a choice!"

"Alright, Garrus, that's enough, back off." Sidda interjected pushing him back. "What the hell is going on?"

"None of your business, Sidda." Garrus snapped.

"Lantar did not have a choice, Garrus. I know those interrogators," Isla went on as Sidda was still playing catch up.

Isla was the best interrogator that the Blue Suns had, she would know. Garrus' angry glare was something Isla had never seen, at least not directed at her but he was beyond angry and she saw it in his eyes. "Was it you?" he hissed with absolute venom in his tone.

Isla gave him a look that could only be described as offended, hurt, and angry all at the same time. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Garrus wasn't sure what he meant, to be perfectly frank, he was angry plain and simple. "I don't want to see you," he growled and walked away leaving them both behind. Both perplexed for different reasons.

"What the hell happened?" Sidda asked Isla who looked very bothered by what just happened. When she didn't answer Sidda squared up to her, an aggressive posture, a Turian one. "Isla, tell me or I'm gonna go ask him and then there'll be even more fireworks."

Isla glared. So far she and Sidda had gotten along but Isla was less familiar with her than Garrus was and sometimes felt that Sidda was a bit much. Her attitude grated on occasion; of course she had the right to be a little angry at the world given the whole resurrection thing. "Lantar Sidonis, one of Garrus' team, the Blue Suns figured out who he was, captured him, tortured him, and flipped him. That's what happened to Garrus' team, that's how Garm nearly killed Garrus. He was able to slip away but by the time he got to the hole you found him in the attack was already finished and his crew was dead."

"Jesus," Sidda said and shook her head. "And you knew?"

Isla shrugged slightly. "I did but by the time I figured it out it was too late. I tried to call him but…I wound up walking into the same mess you did."

Sidda sighed heavily, she didn't want to jump in the middle of their spat but Garrus tended to overreact when he was mad. Most Turians did. "Alright. I'll go talk to him. When Garrus gets mad he's kind of a pain in the ass."

Isla didn't move, she blamed herself for what happened and not figuring out what happened sooner. She didn't like Garrus thinking that she had a hand in death of his entire team and his harsh words hurt her feelings.

* * *

Garrus simmered in the Port Observation deck and Kasumi wisely gave him space, she didn't even need to talk to him. The brimming anger was readily seen by anyone who looked at him. Sidda passed Kasumi and her look or warning made her snort.

The door opened and Sidda didn't even miss a beat. "You wanna get your ass back in there and apologize to her?" she said her tone as blunt as possible. Garrus half turned and glared. "Oh don't give me that look, Vakarian," she added. "That woman ran into enemy fire to save you."

Garrus scoffed. "And was a part of that reason why I was under enemy fire."

"You don't believe that. If you did you'd have taken her head off long before I got in that room," she said brushing his anger aside.

That was a very observant point. "Lantar betrayed me. She betrayed me. Now get your nose out of my business."

Wow, Garrus was beyond upset. This was officially worse than tracking down Crowe. "She said Sidonis didn't have a choice. He was tortured into giving you up."

Garrus closed the distance between them but remained out of arms reach. "You didn't know Sidonis and I barely know her…I should never have brought her."

Sidda shook her head. Nothing was more stubborn than a Turian. "Garrus, if you don't get your head out of your ass I swear to God, limp or no limp, I'm gonna throw down with you right now," she threatened and he stiffened his posture. The act reminded her of Cerrus. Now that she had his attention she decided to continue, her patience was absolutely gone for the day and she used her last ounce of it on him. "Now, I've have a really bad day Garrus, I mean a colossally fucked up really bad day. I lost a man, my crew is ready to munity, and the two people I thought I wouldn't have to worry about are at each other's throats. Now what do you need? Whatever it is I'm there for you."

"Time. Isla said Sidonis escaped Omega and is on the run. When I find him I'm going to kill him," he said his voice calm but a constant rumbling growl went with it. "I don't care if you agree with me or not but I'd like your help with it when I know more."

"100%, whatever you need," she said and was satisfied with the calming of the storm. "Just do me a favor…we don't have many friends you and I. Not many that are still breathing and not many that are still talking to us, I'd die for you and I know you'd do the same but one thing I'm realizing lately is that the best things are usually staring you right in the face the whole damn time. Don't lose her…apologize you stubborn idiot."

* * *

Sidda made her way through the Citadel to the café like her message said. She was actually very surprised to learn he was still on the Citadel and how quickly he'd responded to her message for a meet up. The last time she saw Nov was on a not so good reunion with Victus. Nov had kissed her, kissed her in front of everyone. It was decidedly not a show of affection that Turians usually used but Nov understood its meaning and showed it. It was embarrassing and toe curling all the same.

Nov was as distinctive a Turian as there ever was one; his bright red face was very unique. Honestly, she expected Victus' reaction to her returning from the dead and part of her thought that she'd never see the members of that crew again. Nov had always been different. She found him leaning against the café bar with a drink in front of him. Nov stood at 6'7" and had a broad build but not as broad a Cerrus. She took in his appearance and smiled; tall and broad…just the way she liked them.

"Hey, Cal," Sidda greeted, seeing him twirling his drink. "This is a surprise."

"And why is that?" he asked he asked with a smirk.

Sidda shrugged and felt a little embarrassed. "Because the last time I was on the _Lante_ it wasn't really that much fun," she said and he looked her up and down. "A grand resurrection from the dead after two years can only have one outcome."

He knew what she was referring to. Victus ending it with her five minutes after seeing her still pissed him off. "No, it can have others," he said and she blinked.

Sidda knew what he was getting at, she knew he liked her but the last thing that she wanted was getting attached to someone else with gravity of the mission looming over her. "Cal, I can't-…"

"Sid, let me tell you something," he said cutting her off and put both hands on her shoulders moving her over to the side and sat her down on the stool. "When Garrus told us about…what happened...Victus went…nuclear and turned Damar's face inside out…and I-…"

"Tore the Rec Room in half…I know, Garrus told me," she said and he dropped his head while sitting down in on the stool beside her. "Somewhere in the ballpark of 30,000 credits worth of damage."

Nov sighed at the memory of him losing his damn mind. "32,481 credits to be precise….that came out of my pay."

She had to smile to at his past display of insanity. "Well, it's nice to know that I'm worth…32,481 credits," she said and he took a drink of whatever it was he was drinking. It was meant as a joke but Nov didn't see it that way. She was priceless.

"Sid, there is no price on you," he replied and Sidda blushed from head to toe.

She looked away from him still blushing and started thinking about an active relationship with him. She had to admit she wondered about what it would be like with him but the rational side of her brain waved her off. "No, Cal…I can't," she said and stood. "This mission could end my life."

Nov snorted. "Again, you mean," he said and she scoffed at his joke. "Sidda, look…I came to the conclusion a while ago that I-…"

Sidda shook her head. "Don't say it, Callus, please," she said, it hurt enough losing Victus she didn't want to lose anything else.

He ignored it. He wasn't going to back away this time. "Sidda, I should have said this three years ago." Nov said and Sidda didn't want to hear that either. "I should never have let you walk off the ship without saying it, I should have told you before the drop to Rothla, and I should never have let Victus have you without a fight."

"No, Cal, I died…," she said and he could see she was starting to get upset about the topic. "I lost everything, everyone I knew moved on…Adrien moved on…and now…this mission will likely kill me. I can't die and put anyone else through that, I can't lose anyone else-…," she babbled and Nov needed to stop the upset babbling train and leaned forward cupping her face in his hands kissing her.

His kiss was enough to clear her head and she settled down. This was the second time and it still felt right. He pulled back from her and felt this was going to go one of two ways: either he was going to get what he wanted or he was going to get his ass kicked. He prayed for the former. "Siddalee, the only way you're gonna lose me is if you drop me down a black hole."

Sidda laughed quietly and she was flushed the same color as his bright red facepaint. "I know," she replied. "Alright, Cal," she said and leaned forward giving him a short light kiss. "We'll give it a shot."

Nov resisted the urge to jump up and down screaming; instead he pressed his forehead to hers. He had her, he finally had her. "Dinner?"

Sidda smiled and felt her cheeks flush. "I'm starving."

* * *

Garrus strolled through the revamped C-Sec Headquarters; they'd finished remodeling it and moved everyone over to the new set up sometime after he left. As he walked through he couldn't help but notice just how much C-Sec had changed. He heard things as he passed, the use of force in interrogations 'make them scream a little'…of course as soon as he left C-Sec the red tape got thinner.

He passed everyone earned a few looks from people who knew him. Quiet nods from some and smile and slap on the shoulder from others. Garrus quit in grand fashion and now he was back with half his face burned off. He shook the hands of one or two people until he found who he wanted. Chellick. Still a detective but of a higher grade, Chellick would have made an outstanding Executor…that was one of the reasons behind Garrus quitting. C-Sec brass went with a political option rather than the best man for the job. Garrus tapped on the door and Chellick blinked when he looked up. Then he stood up still blinking.

"Garrus?"

"Chellick." He replied with a nod as he approached him to shake his hand, a firm wrist clasp between the two Turians.

"What happened to your face?" Chellick asked as he offered his former partner a seat.

"Omega." Garrus answered and sat down. Omega was the one place that could be used as an apt description and Chellick shorted as he sat down in his own chair.

"Shepard's back from the dead…and was looking for you." He said and Garrus nodded quietly.

"She found me." He replied. "She told me she found you…nearly had to peel you off the ceiling." Garrus was chuckling and Chellick gave him and derisive snort.

"Yeah, it's not everyday someone who'd been dead for two years shows up in your office like nothing ever happened."

"I need your help, Chellick." Garrus announced and Chellick leaned back in his seat. "I need to find someone, a Turian named Lantar Sedonis."

Chellick's expression narrowed. "You have the resources of a Spectre at your fingertips why do you need me?"

"Because Sidda's been dead for two years and you have shady contacts everywhere. If anyone can find it'll be you." Garrus said and Chellick scoffed loudly.

"Garrus, I couldn't find _you_ for ten months." He commented and then sighed to the expression Garrus gave him. "Lantar Sedonis…last seen on Omega I take it?" Garrus nodded quietly as Chellick tapped it into his terminal. "Okay, I'll take a look and see what I can find. There's a Spectre I can ask…one in better standing than yours is. Give me some time."

Garrus nodded thankful that Chellick was willing and able to help him. He stood and looked down at the Detective. "Thank you." He said and lingered a moment. "You would have made an outstanding Executor."

Chellick smiled to Garrus' complement and watched him leave. He studied the name he was given and typed it in. "Okay, Lantar Sedonis, where are you?"

* * *

Dinner was at a restaurant that Sidda couldn't say the name of but she saw all walks of life seated and enjoying meals. Most restaurants that wanted to make money in Zakera Ward had to cater to multiple species or move to one that was specific to one or two or less complicated than serving to Volus, Turian, Hanar, and Human.

"Why are you limping?" Nov asked as she sat down at their table in the restaurant.

"It's a long story," she replied as Nov sat down across from her.

"Could be a long dinner."

Sidda laughed but she didn't want to go into it over dinner. Right now she was in a good mood. "Mission went sideways. I lost a man."

Nov didn't say anything right away as she started to flip through the menu. "Sorry," he said and didn't press further.

"What's good here?" she asked also changing the topic.

"Everything. It's the best place on the Citadel," he answered as he set his down knowing what he wanted to order and waited patiently for her. Zakera Ward was the most diverse of the Wards so it was a better dating site for a mixed couple.

After a few minutes the orders were sorted out and simple chit chat filled the time. He was just happy to have her. "So, I didn't see Deliah or Rekka the other day?" she asked as the server brought their orders.

Nov dug into his plate of meat and gave the swift answer. "Desala's on leave. Palaven, three weeks…and Deliah transferred out."

Sidda paused from cutting up the reasonable facsimile of Chicken Parmesan. Deliah transferred off the _Lante_. That was a surprise though she couldn't blame her, losing Nihlus hit her hard. "You're kidding. When?"

Nov was like a man on a mission, he didn't look up from his plate. "Little over a year ago."

"Wow…back to Blackwatch?"

Nov shook his head sharply and looked up at her. "Nah. The _Defiant_ last I heard."

"Jesus, does that leave anyone for the teams? You and Cerrus commanding the teams, members are getting pretty slim." Nov looked away like he was hiding something.

He took a moment before responding. "Just leaves Cerrus. I'm not on the _Lante_ anymore."

Sidda was shocked to his statement. "What?" she asked dropping her fork.

Nov nearly chuckled at the flustered appearance that overcame her when the fork hit the plate and drew the attention. "I'm off the ship. I…uhh…I had a major blowout with Victus."

"About what?" she asked leaning forward on the table.

"You."

She rolled her eyes and grumbled. So far since she came back all she'd heard was how bad things were without her, how things went so bad, how divided people became. It wasn't her fault…all she did was die. "Oh goddamnit. Am I responsible for everything that went wrong?"

Nov stopped eating and leaned back. "He hurt you. I didn't like the way he treated you so I told him what I thought. He kicked me off the ship."

Sidda downed the glass full of wine. "Cal, damnit…"

"I was off the ship anyway, Sid, just a few weeks early," he clarified and decided to add a little more to it. She went back to eating and he swallowed before continuing. "I'm mustering out."

She froze and blinked a few times looking at him. He didn't hold her gaze and concentrated on his food. "Are you kidding? You've been in the military what…"

" _Since I was able to run away from home,"_ he thought but decided to go with the least amount of daddy issues. "Since I was 15, boot camp; Black Ops posting straight out of OCS."

Nov out of the military…that was a surprise, she couldn't imagine him doing anything else. Nov as a civilian was a completely foreign concept. "So what are you going to do?"

Nov shrugged. "I'll figure something out." That was a lie; he had a new job he just didn't want to tell her just yet.

"Cal," she asked suspiciously and he chuckled.

"I'm good, Sid. I'm a highly trained Combat Engineer, believe me, I won't sit on the shelf long," he replied with a grin. " _Or ever,"_ he added in his head.

* * *

After dinner they walked, bit of a pain in the ass, or leg as it were, for Sidda but Nov went slow so he could match her pace. He offered a cab about a dozen times but she declined it. As they walked she went into a bit more detail about the mission, losing a man, and the rest of this traveling roadshow.

"Have you talked to your mom yet?" he asked and she shook her head quickly.

"Oh, hell no, I'm trying to avoid that," she replied letting out a long sigh.

"Why?"

She was scared to. That was the bottom line. "I'm not going to tell her I'm back from the grave when this mission could put me right back in it," she said and Nov could see her point. "Besides, look what telling you guys did for my social life."

Nov gave her a slight smile and reached down with his right hand taking her left in his. "Not all of us reacted the way Victus did," he said and Sidda felt the damn blush creeping back up, it could have been his kind words, intentions, or just that he was holding her hand. "I met your mom…she'd want to know."

She stood closer to him as they kept walking. "I know," she replied and she thought about something else he said. "Wait, when did you meet my mom?"

"Your funeral on _Arcturus,_ you look like her." He answered.

"How many on the _Lante_ went to the funeral?"

"Victus, me, Ruvvak, Cerrus."

"Cerrus? Of course… that asshole would see me off for good riddance," she joked.

Nov laughed too. "I think he was there mostly because Tali went." The truth was Cerrus had gone of his own volition to pay his respects, as much as he fought her and hissed at her the mission to catch Saren brought them to an understanding. For Cerrus she earned his professional respect. "You should call your mom."

After a few more minutes of walking Nov stopped at an apartment door and Sidda glanced around her. She didn't realize they'd walked so far and now she was confused. "Where are we now?" she asked and Nov punched a code into the doors lock.

"My place," he answered and Sidda balked as the door opened. Nov saw it and snorted lightly gesturing for her to walk first. "I'll be a perfect gentleman I promise," he grinned. Sidda eyed him playfully not sure if she believed him but she walked in anyway looking around at the enormous apartment. It stuck her as strange that he actually had an apartment and not one of the short term tiny ass ones. This was the bigger luxury ones that usually needed a decent pay grade to go with it.

"So…you have an apartment on the Citadel, you are no longer on the _Lante,_ and you say you're mustering out," she said trying to put the pieces together as he tapped a few buttons on the counter telling the apartment to do something that wasn't seen. "You already have a job, damn it, what are you up to?"

He chuckled shaking his head. "You hate not knowing don't you," he said and she gave him a glare that didn't have any heat behind it. "You want a drink?"

"Nah, I'm good." Sidda stepped to a table with some nick-knacks on it. There was a knife she recognized as his family one and a picture of her and Nov. She picked up the image and blinked. "Oh my God, I remember when this was taken…Turians showed me how to throw a birthday party."

Nov's pace slowed for a moment as he joined her. "That was a hell of a night," he commented not really sure of anything else to say. He watched her carefully, making sure she wasn't uncomfortable with his little shrine. Not really a shrine, it was a knife and a picture but he didn't want her weirded out.

She set the image down and picked up the knife. "The knife that caused a lot of problems," she said. It was still beautiful, the engraving, the sigil markings. It was an old blade and Nov had tried to give it to her twice. "I never understood why you wanted me to have this."

"Because I love you," he answered simply. He was keeping with his earlier notion to be honest with her and not let her slip away this time. "I always have. Victus was right to be angry when I gave that to you. And you are absolutely worth fighting for."

Sidda couldn't help but smile. Every girl wanted to hear things like that. He loved her, she could see that, and she had no idea how she totally missed that in the past. He didn't fight for her before because of his personal code to not steal someone else's mate, intentionally anyway, but now he had a second chance and wasn't going to waste it. She stepped toward him until she was close enough for her raise to her tip toes and kiss him. Nov's enormous 6'7" height was a barrier and he leaned down. This time she kissed him and he wrapped his arms around her. She gasped as he dropped his mouth to the right side of her neck and felt him rake his teeth against her flesh. The sensation was euphoric but she gently pushed back from him.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, too far too fast. When he looked at her he didn't see her upset he saw her smiling and felt her right hand on his cheek.

"Don't apologize," she said sweetly. "Just not yet. I don't sleep with guys on the first date."

Nov's nerves began to dissipate and he laughed at her joke. He pressed his forehead to hers. "If you want to go back to the _Normandy_ I can call you a cab but you're more than welcome to stay here. You can have the bed… I can sleep on the couch."

Nov was a running mystery, all Sidda had ever heard of was how smooth on operator he was but with what he was showing now it was a mystery on how he was still single. From what she knew he spent the better part of two years in love with her but never let it become an issue or even tell her and now that he had her he displayed admirable restraint. He didn't push or pressure. He was public with his confession but he moved at her pace. "I think I'll take that drink."

Nov smiled and stood up straight. "As you wish."

* * *

 _ **PS: Was there flirting going on between Sidda and Thane? Yes, yes there was. Why? Because I couldn't help myself. I love Thane. Ipander: again you're welcome. :) Stay tuned for more, y'all.**_


	7. Chapter 7: What About the Grey

_**Note: Okay, I apologize for how long this took. I got seriously stuck in the middle of this chapter however thank you to LilyShepard and AlienSinger for poking me. The Relic is coming along swimmingly but lets get this show back on the road.**_

 _ **Thank you to the favorites and follows, as always feedback is appreciated. Thank your for reading.**_

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Chapter Seven: What About the Grey**

Nov startled awake and groaned to the crick in his neck from the couch. Sidda had been encircled in his arms but now she was gone. How the hell did she get out without waking him? "Sid?" he asked in a dry voice, cleared his throat and tried again. "Sid?"

His shoulder ached, the doctors said he seamlessly healed but that was a lie. It functioned seamlessly but if he laid on it too long it became sore. He sat up and rubbed it in an attempt to loosen it up but still didn't see Sidda. She had fallen asleep on the couch with him some time last night. He noted that her boots were gone and the knife was gone too. Sidda had set it on the table and now it was gone.

Nov smiled to himself, he told her that it had always been hers. "She's mine." He smiled to himself and flopped back down on the couch but the opposite side.

The Rodam Expeditions owner, Etarn Tiron, was generally pleasant to her, once he figured out that she was Commander Shepard that is and he even gave her a deep discount. The Council may have screwed her but at least saving their sorry asses paid off a little. Tiron gave her a strange expression when he saw the Turian knife she was trying to figure out how to carry. Too big to carry up a gauntlet so she was looking for alternative places.

Sidda's comm chirped and she glanced down at the code. It was Nov's code and she smiled. "Miss me already?" she asked after tapping it quickly.

She heard Nov's chuckle. _"I just have one question: how the hell did you sneak out?"_

Sidda had a lot of practice with Victus. He held her just the way that Nov did, trapping her in a protective embrace. "You're not the first Turian I've slept with." She replied and heard him groan. The comment got her a strange look from Tiron but she ignored it with a slight smile.

Most would have sneered to the crass comment but Nov didn't take any offense. She was able to joke about but it didn't mean she was over Victus. _"So you practiced first."_ He joked and she chuckled.

She played along loving Nov's sense of humor. "You discovered my master plan, Callus, congratulations." She giggled.

She could hear him chuckling on the other end. _"Did you ship out yet?"_ he asked and Sidda chuckled.

Tiron handed her a boot sheath for the knife and she quietly thanked him. The Turian still had a strange expression on his face watching a human try settle the old Talon into the position of a boot knife. "That's two questions."

Nov laughed. _"Do I need to hang up and call back?"_

"No, but I believe you'd do that." She chuckled, enjoying the teasing. Again, Tiron gave her a strange look. Human and Turian couples weren't common but they'd become more of a sight over the past year or two and it was obvious she was talking to a Turian, probably the Turian who owned the knife.

" _So, what, are you going to tell me when you're taking off or do I have to come down there and pester you."_

"Couple hours." She replied with a smile and tested the knife in the sheath on her right leg. It felt loose, it'd probably fit better with her armor on. "But you can come down and pester anyway."

" _Got any cute Asari onboard?"_

Sidda adjusted the straps again but it was still a bit loose without the armor. "I got a Justicar you might like."

" _No thanks."_ He said with a snort. _"I do not mess with the Justicars. I'll drop by before you're ready to take off. Have some things to do beforehand."_

"For your mystery job?"

Nov snorted with a smile, she hated no knowing what his new job was but she'd love it when she did find out. _"I'll see you later, Sidda."_

"Bye, Cal." She giggled. It did occur to her that she sounded like a little school girl with a crush but Nov tended to bring that out in her. "I'll take this one." She said to Tiron nodded. Human and Turian couples were…strange.

* * *

Sidda leaned on the railing as the _Normandy_ prepared to depart; she wasn't looking forward to going back out with a crew that thought she hung one of theirs out to dry. Her merry band of misfits part two trickled by with bags and boxes of stuff.

Tali passed with a few bags from the shops she visited. The Citadel didn't have much in the way for Quarians but it had _everything_ for Turians. She desperately needed dextro drinks, food, some anti-bacterial soaps, and a few other things that Cerberus didn't stock on a human ship. "Shepard." She greeted with her usual cheery tone.

Sidda fiddled with the knife, the old Talon had a perfect balance to it but it was too big to go where she usually carried a knife, in her gauntlet. For that reason she bought a sheath for her boot, she wasn't sure it if would work but she'd give it a whirl. "Hey," she greeted and noticed all the bags. "good shopping spree?"

Tali giggled. "The _Normandy_ is a magnificent ship but it lacks something for the dextros." She said setting the bags down to talk to her friend. "That's a Turian knife isn't it?" she asked. "Tyr has a few like it...not quite like that one." Sidda passed it to the Quarian who handled it with care. "It's old."

"Cal's knife. Apparently it was his fathers."

"It's beautiful."

"He gave it to me as a birthday present while I was on the _Lante_. I gave it back. He tried to give it to me again…I gave it back again." She explained and Tali passed it back to her.

"But you have it now?" Tali said. "Does that mean you and Cal…"

"I'm giving it a try…things did not go well with Adrien."

"I heard. I'm sorry, Sidda." Sidda waived the apology off.

"Hey you." A Turian voice greeted and she looked over her shoulder to see Nov.

"Hi." She blushed and stood up straight.

"Tali," Nov greeted the little Quarian. "a pleasure as always."

"Captain Nov." She smiled and nodded to him. Nov had always flirted with her but after she and Cerrus became official Nov stopped. Nov may have been a pathological flirt but he wasn't stupid, he respected Cerrus and conducted himself with honor.

"Cal. Please." He replied with a slight drone in his voice. He'd only asked her to call him by his first name a hundred times.

"Right. Sorry." Tali nodded to him and collected up her bags. "It was good to see you again."

"Take a headcount for me, Tali." Sidda called after her and the Quarian shouted her back her reply.

Nov watched her go. He really did like Tali, Cerrus was a lucky man but Nov loved Sidda…plain and simple. "So where are you heading?" he asked returning his attention to Sidda.

The little human giggled in response. "Back to my kingdom of exile."

Nov stifled a laugh. "Stop pissing off the Council and you may get to play in more exotic places." He advised and Sidda snorted.

She shook her head. Nov had the innate ability to make her laugh no matter what. "It's a natural state, I can't help it."

A new sound whirred from the _Normandy_ , preparing for departure. "Just watch your back out there, okay." Sidda smiled, still blushing and stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. Nov purred his approval. "You smell like me." He commented quietly sounding proud and satisfied with that.

"Which means I need a shower." She quipped back.

"Ouch…" he hissed playfully as Sidda chuckled. "Why are you so mean to me?"

"What? Big handsome, strapping, Turian badass like you can handle it." She replied teasing him relentlessly.

"Hmmm." Nov purred again pulling her body to his with his right hand. "I like it when you're feisty." Teasing each other was like a breath of fresh air. Nov was a blast to tease and banter with and now with the obvious sexual tension it was even more fun. "Let me know when you get back."

* * *

Garrus hovered over the weapons bench with his visor in one hand and a soldering iron in the other. He wasn't fixing his visor or soldering anything to it he was actually in the middle of scouring a name off. A few days after he was plucked off Omega he honored those he lost by etching their names into his visor. Now he was removing Sidonis' with a growl.

The smell of coffee cut through the smell of the soldering and he turned his head to find it. It was Isla, he hadn't talked to her in a few days and felt both anger and shame for talking to her the way he did. "Coffee?" she asked and he nodded quietly. "Garrus, I should ha-…"

He put the soldering gun down and cut her off. "Isla…stop," he said firmly. "It's me who needs to apologize." He grabbed her hand to pull her closer to him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that."

"I should have told you when we got off Omega," she said and Garrus squeezed her hand. "He really didn't have a choice, Garrus, they would have killed him if he didn't and from what I saw they tortured him bad."

Garrus stood and walked a few feet away. "That explains why he's vanished."

"He's scared," she said. "He knows that if you survived the attack you wouldn't stop until you find him. He's hiding, on the run, probably changed his name."

"Chellick will find him," he said softly. "Chellick can find anyone."

* * *

Sidda hadn't seen this much combat in years, not even on the _Lante_ or chasing Saren across the galaxy. The Terminus was a mess, a hot bed of illegal activity with everything from criminals to mercenaries, sometimes in the same organization. Right now the Blood Pack was her current headache. System after system, planet after planet, Sidda and company shut down the Blood Pack and their shady activities. It wouldn't last forever but she at least knew that for a while she'd thinned the merc pack in the Terminus. With all the back to back work and no news from the Illusive Man about the Omega 4 Relay she'd figured her crew out.

Losing Jacob caused a little bit of a divide among the crew, most believed that it was an accident but not all believed that Sidda did everything she could to prevent it. Samara also caught a lot of the heat as well, she was the person who'd been paired with him and had allowed him to go back on his own. The Justicar accepted the responsibility for it and vowed to never let something like that happen again. Aside from a 'holier than thou' attitude Sidda didn't mind her. Samara did her job and did it well. She was a very good leader and even the Cerberus crew respected her.

Miranda was still a problem but had realized that Sidda didn't kill Jacob, it was still ice cold between them though and that wasn't going to change soon. Sidda already knew that she worked well with Garrus and Tali. Isla was very versatile as well and with her mercenary background, like Zaeed, she was a wealth of information. She was also a qualified pilot for the Kodiak. Certain teams were more effective than others, however. Sidda was able to work with everyone on board, even Miranda, and aside from Garrus and Tali she worked the best with Thane. The assassin rivaled Garrus with sharpshooting and he was a team player. Zaeed was another one she worked well with despite his attitude that could only be described as a 'jackass'. Grunt, Kasumi, and Isla were the second most devastating team she could put together. Samara, Jack, and Sidda were a biotic death squad…they walked into a Blood Pack stronghold and destroyed it and anyone that was there.

Sidda, Isla, and Kasumi had just returned along with Zaeed from the planet Daratar to collect a 'reward' from Aria. Aria did warn them that it was going to be a bit of a mess so Sidda went in force. It wasn't perfect and probably could have been prettier but they got a lot of weapons from the cache.

"Not that I didn't enjoy the awesome cache of illegal weapons we made off with but next time can we do without the army of YMIR mechs?" Kasumi asked as they deposited weapons into lockers. Isla had taken over manning the armory since Jacob's unfortunate demise.

"I'll be sure to mention that to Aria," Sidda replied dryly as she stowed her Mattock, Carnifex, and Arch Projector. "All go no quit for nearly a week straight…we've had to have made some kind of dent in the merc population out here."

"Don't bet on it," Zaeed said as he began to strip down the Incisor that jammed at the wrong time against the YMIR. The Mattock took care of it but the weapon just jammed. "This is the Terminus, Shepard."

"Joy," he replied ruefully.

" _Sidda,"_ Garrus' voice cut through the comm. _"I need to talk to you as soon as possible."_

"No rest for the wicked," she sighed. "On my way, Garrus. Isla, Zaeed, when y'all are done make sure the stuff in the cargo hold gets squared away. At the very least we walked away with lots of goodies…gonna have a hell of an arsenal by the time we're done."

Sidda was still in her armor when she headed for Garrus' haunt in the forward battery. At least he wasn't constantly tweaking the Mako but instead he'd calibrated the _Normandy's_ weapons to within an inch of its life. She had a feeling that she'd appreciate that later. It did appear that he'd apologized to Isla. Sidda enjoyed watching them together. She'd never seen Garrus act the way he did when he was around her.

Garrus was pacing when she entered the battery. "Oh this does not look good. What happened?"

"Chellick found him, Sid. He _found_ him," Garrus blurted but recanted his statement a second later. It felt good to just say that he'd been found even if it wasn't entirely accurate. "Or rather he found where he'd been, there's a forger on the Citadel named Fade good at making people disappear. If we get to him we can find Sidonis."

Sidda wasn't sure if she liked where Garrus' mind was. He wanted revenge, plain and simple, but that wasn't really Garrus. The past two years had changed him dramatically. "What do you plan on doing when you find him?"

"I'm going to kill him, Sidda," he snarled harshly and she could see the fire in his eyes. "He sold me out and ten people died because of it."

Sidda didn't think it was that simple and at the risk of him blowing a gasket again she reminded him of that. "Garrus, don't you think there might be more to what happened?"

Garrus growled in barely contained frustration. "Commander, you don't have to agree with me but I want your help."

Sidda didn't want to fight with him; he was as stubborn as they came and she raised her hands. "Alright, alright, alright…I'll be there…we'll go now."

* * *

"I swear I see more of you now than I did when you worked here," Chellick droned to Garrus seeing Garrus and Sidda make their way into his office.

Garrus wasn't in the mood for jokes, which was a red flag to Sidda and to Chellick. "Just tell me what you found."

Chellick's nod was sharp and he shuffled through the pads on his desk. "Forger named Fade…no one's quite sure who he is besides a pain in the ass. Captain Bailey's been having trouble finding him for almost a year now. Major thorn in the Network Division's side."

"But you found Sidonis?"

Chellick shrugged. "Some contacts said they saw a Turian matching your description of Sidonis trying to figure out how to disappear. Fade's name was mentioned. I've got an off duty Spectre looking into it, meet him in the warehouse district on 27."

Sidda cocked her head. "Off duty Spectre?"

"Yeah, he's new. People don't know him…never see him coming."

Sidda's brow furrowed a new Spectre or one that wasn't assigned to the Citadel. Before she could ask Garrus was already leaving.

They'd collected Isla on the way down and Garrus was a simmering silence that made both Sidda and Isla exchange looks. At least Sidda knew that she wasn't the only one worried about his behavior. This time Sidda didn't have a big ass Turian with an equally bad attitude to tackle him when he got out of hand.

"I've already wrecked one end of the Citadel… let's see if I can wreck the rest," Sidda muttered as they approached the warehouse that Garrus seemed to know. Chellick had mentioned a warehouse and Garrus went straight to it.

As they approached the warehouse they noticed a Turian waiting out front by some stacked crates. The Turian was familiar, very familiar. Nov leaned against the crate by the warehouse entrance. He was in full black armor and looked like he was ready for some action.

"Who's that?" Isla asked and Garrus grumbled.

Garrus' eyes narrowed. "What is he doing here?" Garrus asked and Sidda honestly didn't have a clue.

"You're asking me?" she replied. "I came with you. Cal, what are you doing here?"

Nov stood up straight. "Detective Chellick said you needed help."

Sidda and Garrus looked at each other then back to him. "Chellick said we were supposed to meet up-…"

"With the Spectre who was helping him," Nov finished. "Surprise, I'm the Spectre."

Sidda blinked several times. "You're a Spectre?" the shock in her voice was undeniable. _This_ was the new job he had and didn't tell her. Him. Callus Nov, a fucking Spectre. "I don't fucking believe this." She wasn't upset he was a Spectre, not at all, Nov was the best Combat Engineer she'd ever seen and an extremely experienced operative.

Garrus was irritable and focused. "We don't need another body, Sid, we can handle it." Garrus said and Sidda huffed.

Sending Nov packing was a bad idea and she knew it. "Withholding employment information from me not withstanding he's the best Combat Engineer on the station." By her tone Nov knew that Sidda was going to chastise him for not telling her sooner later.

"And a Spectre in better standing than her," he put in.

Sidda had to agree with that, any Spectre was in better standing than her right now…working with a terrorist organization and all. "We could definitely use him."

Garrus nodded after a moment, Nov was highly experienced but he didn't know him as well as he knew Maridus. "Fine. Nov, Isla. Isla, Nov."

Isla looked the other Turian up and down. He was taller than Garrus, had amber eyes, skin that was a shade darker than Garrus', and striking bright red mask for markings. They regarded each other as Garrus moved to the door.

Nov saw Sidda's glare as she didn't say anything. "Sid, this was not how I intended for you to find out," he tried to explain and Sidda turned toward him.

She wasn't mad that he was a Spectre, she was actually quite proud. He didn't tell her and he obviously knew about it, that's what had her miffed. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because technically I'm still Captain Callus Nov, Turian Special Forces and I haven't officially been inducted yet."

Sidda made a face to his reasoning. "And for that you didn't say anything? Come on, Cal." She stopped him and turned to face him as Isla and Garrus continued walking.

"I wanted it to be a surprise, Sid. Why are you pissed? You think you're the only one who can be a Spectre?"

"Of course not and I'm not mad. I just have had plenty of 'surprises' tossed at me lately I don't really need another one. All you need to be is honest." Nov blinked, he couldn't figure out why she was mad at him.

"Can you two talk about this later?" Garrus cut it earning him a glare from Nov.

"I'm sorry, Sidda," Nov said and patted her shoulder moving down the hall towards the rest.

Sidda felt like a heel, she wasn't mad but that's what she sounded like.

They were met by two Krogan, mercenaries if there armor markings were anything to go by. Garrus examined the threat factor in the room, two Krogan were manageable for himself, Isla, Sidda, and Nov. "We're looking for Fade," Garrus announced.

The two Krogan were vigilant but looked to someone else, probably Fade, that Garrus couldn't see. What appeared was defiantly not what any of them had expected. A Volus strutted out like he owned the place.

Nov cocked his head. Salarian, Turian, Human, Asari, hell even a Krogan he would have expected but a Volus. "Well…that was…anticlimactic."

"You're Fade?" Isla asked as she and Garrus had the same feeling. She didn't believe it and neither did he.

"I understand you'd like to disappear?" the Volus stated and Garrus didn't care that the contact happened to be a Volus. If they couldn't point him to his quarry he didn't care.

"Actually, I'm more interested in you making someone reappear," Garrus growled and the Volus realized this wasn't just another client.

"That's not the service we provide," he replied and then panicked. "Wait. Who are you? Nevermind. Shoot them! Shoot them!" he shouted to the Krogan bodyguards. Contrary to popular belief, Krogan were not stupid and took stock of the situation. A Blue Suns merc, a Human in N7 armor, and two Turians from god knows where in top of the line armor. They weren't being paid enough for that.

"Why don't you guys go find somewhere else to skulk?" Garrus growled to the Krogan mercs. They left and Sidda drew her Carnifex aiming it at the Volus who ass was left hanging in the breeze with the departure of his guards.

"Now over to you," she began and the Volus folded.

"I'm not Fade…I work for him," he corrected quickly. Sidda and Garrus looked at each other and she could have sworn that the Turian was actually having fun right now.

* * *

The prefab foundry Garrus knew was a front for a lot of shady operations so when they began to encounter Blue Suns he wasn't exactly shocked. They shot their way inside and then encountered a steadily worsening amount of resistance.

In the distance past the crates, machinery, and bad guys they heard a distinctive sound. "YMIR mechs…really?" Nov questioned talking to Sidda.

"Apparently," she replied as they moved up further into the foundry.

"You don't want to be here you can wait outside," Garrus snapped in reply to Nov and the other Turian looked at him with a glare.

Nov tapped his Omni-tool setting it up for the type of combat he was calculating they would be in. "You're being an asshole," he bitched and Sidda grumbled.

"Guys, I'm not kidding, I'll turn this manhunt right around if you don't knock it off," she snapped as they scattered to meet the attack. "Now play nice."

Garrus understood completely the usefulness of Nov. Sidda was right to bring him along. Nov's technical ability alone rendered several mechs and enemy weapons useless giving the rest time to pick them off cleanly. The foundry was a pain in the ass, too many doors and corners and it was crawling with bad guys.

"LOKI Mechs, FENRIS Mechs, YIMR Mechs, _and_ Blue Suns! Who the hell is this guy?" Nov shouted while furiously tapping on his omni-tool. The combination of mechs and mercs obliterated his shields to the point he needed to seek cover.

"Someone who is terrified of me," Garrus replied and was more than a little satisfied about that.

His omni-tool beeped at him. "Remind me never to piss you off, Vakarian."

"Do you ever shut up?" Isla snapped.

Sidda was growing irritated, Garrus was annoyed, Isla had a temper, and Nov was extremely good at pushing buttons. "Think you guys can shut up and actually hit something for a change?"

Nov snorted. "I don't think your girlfriend likes me, Vakarian."

"Can't imagine why," Garrus snarked as Sidda and Isla gave each other a look. If the Blue Suns didn't kill the Bickering Bickerson's one of them would and the expression they wore was the same.

The fact that Isla wore Blue Suns colors made for some fairly interesting encounters. At one point she had the Blue Suns shooting at each other and confused some of the mechs enough that they didn't target her since they thought she was a friendly. Sidda took back the pushing to get her new armor. The misdirection was extremely useful.

Watching Nov in action was like a guilty pleasure. It took her death and flat rejection by Victus to make her look at him in anyway other than a friend. Now, she wasn't sure if she could look at him as anything else. Was he her boyfriend now? Her lover? This wasn't the time to be having these thoughts but she was. Here, now, in a firefight she was contemplating her relationship with Callus Nov and why she hadn't contemplated it before.

"Hey!" Isla called snapping Sidda from an apparent daydream. She wasn't daydreaming she just wasn't listening after the Blue Suns sentinel fell. "You with us?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here," Sidda griped. "Cal, get the door."

Nov was already in the process of hacking the terminal leaving Garrus and Isla pillaged to the office checkpoint. Ammo, money, components, interesting things they could grab on the way out were all there for the taking. The terminal beeped and the heavy door opened.

Isla wasn't sure what to make of the Turian who talked too much. It was clear that he and Sidda had a history, Garrus knew him and either his mood made him grumpy or he didn't like him, she wasn't sure which, but she had to admit he was good with Tech. "Damn, you're good."

Nov grinned. "I'm not good, I'm great. Isn't that right, Sid?"

He was full of himself, always had been. Garrus groaned, Isla rolled her eyes, and Sidda scoffed. "Mother of God."

They were getting closer, more mechs, more mercs, and more obstacles. Harkin was running for his life and throwing his entire arsenal at them. There were no more light troopers, everything they fought now were engineers, sentinels, centurions, vanguards, and mechs, heavy hitters no matter who you asked. Garrus never switched to his rifle. Each person he'd worked with some way or another. Sidda was a mid-range fighter, her biotics were an absolute equalizer and it was clear to see why she'd held Elysium all by her little old lonesome. Isla liked the short range but loved her proximity mines. Nov was the jack of all trades, while he preferred ranged combat he could step up and fight in the middle of it like a vanguard would. Garrus learned that when working with Sidda he was to stay back and pick them off from a distance. He never missed and no one ever got close to him.

"More mechs," Nov called as they jumped down off the platform that they now needed to jump back on.

Garrus grunted. "Just one YIMR. I'm not losing Harkin!" his focus was beginning to grate on Nov. Determined Turians were, in a word, irritating.

"Just one he says," Nov griped as he reloaded then heard a separate sound indicating there were more than one out there…hell, more than two. "Well, now there's three of them, are you happy now?"

Sidda shook her head and she and Isla ducked into cover. Minuscule cover, but when up against three YIMR Mechs, it was cover none the less. "I don't know which ones are worse the bad guys or them." Sidda muttered.

Isla switched from the shotgun to the Mattock and turned the armor piercing rounds on. "They are…we can't shoot them," Isla grumbled and Sidda chuckled.

"Stick to the high ground. Don't go had to hand with them," Garrus shouted as he climbed up the highest point.

"You guys just be ready to shoot," Nov called and scurried into cover tapping his omni-tool more. Sidda knew he was resetting one of his tech powers and could guess which one. Sabotage. "Sid, Isla, try to cluster them." The girls complied and gave them something to target.

The benefit of the raised maze Harkin created to escape Garrus' wrath was that it helped trap the giant mechs on lower ground. "Cal, be careful!" Sidda shouted seeing Nov step around and let the powerful sabotage fly. He managed to hit all three of them and the mechs stopped cold as their systems glitched.

Garrus didn't need the order, as soon as the sabotage spread from one to the next to the next he opened fire. His first shot took the head off of one as Isla fired into the one next to it. Sidda put rapid fire rounds into the third one and all three mechs exploded at once damaging Isla's tech shields and bringing them down along with Sidda's.

"Glad you brought me along now, Garrus?" Nov gloated. He saw blood coming from Sidda's cheek. Even in cover the exploding mechs sent damaging shrapnel everywhere.

* * *

Getting Harkin to talk was easy, there was nothing like a pissed off Turian to get someone to talk and Garrus was extremely pissed off. He didn't kill Harkin but he did beat him pretty severely to get him to talk. The only reason Harkin wasn't dead was because of Sidda. She stopped Garrus from killing him…it didn't seem like a moral victory. Harkin was dirty and a bastard.

No matter what anyone said Garrus was determined to kill Sidonis, Isla was trying to talk him out of it and Sidda was worried about her friend. Garrus was a hot head but for the most part he was a good man. Not a murderer.

Isla keyed her comm off as she walked with Nov and Sidda. "I'm not going to let him shoot him," she said primarily to Sidda. "Garrus is blinded by anger and revenge but I know that Lantar wouldn't have betrayed him unless he was under extreme duress."

"If we get in his way Garrus is liable to shoot us too," Sidda reasoned as the three of them made their way toward Orbital Lounge.

"There he is," Isla pointed. The Turian looked nervous, Nov decided that. If he wasn't there mark then that was one guilty Turian. "Lantar."

The Turian jumped to his feet and nearly panicked when he saw Isla in her Blue Sun's armor. "Spirits! No. No. No. I told you people all I know."

"Lantar, calm down," she said firmly and made sure she staying in front of him. He turned to walk away and she grabbed his arm. "Hey, I am the only thing standing between you and bullet in your head."

"What?" he questioned and it occurred to him that Isla was Garrus' Blue Suns insider. "Wait. If you're here…where's Garrus?"

"Who do you think's behind the bullet?"

To Sidda, if Sidonis had been human he probably would have gone white as a sheet, instead she heard him curse. "Fuck."

" _Isla, get out of the way,"_ Garrus ordered in their ear. She ignored it.

"Now's your chance to explain what happened, Lantar," she coaxed staying in her position to block Garrus' shot and opening the comm for Sidonis to hear as well. "I wasn't able to stop what happened to you. I wish I could have."

"They caught me…," Sidonis began. "I tried to resist. I didn't…I couldn't…they beat me, threatened me. I don't have much family but the ones that I do they found and threatened to kill."

" _So he betrayed me instead,"_ Garrus hissed in her hear. _"Ask him about Afterlife. That Krogan would have beat him to death if I hadn't have stepped in. I don't care what he says, he screwed us. They all died because of him."_

"Garrus, look at him," Nov put in after observing his behavior. "He's suffering enough as it is."

Sidonis looked at the other Turian with them. "He's right. I don't sleep, food has no taste. All I can think of is Omega. What I did…what I didn't have in me to resist. Garrus saved my life and I didn't have the strength to resist the Blue Suns. I am so sorry, Garrus."

" _Sorry is not going to bring them all back,"_ Garrus growled but deep down knew that Sidonis didn't willingly betray him. It didn't make it better knowing that someone he trusted broke under torture and gave him up but he understood that it wasn't something Sidonis did willingly. The fact that Isla still trusted him played a part in his reasoning. She understood better than most what Sidonis had probably gone through. _"Get out of here,"_ he said after a long minute of contemplation. _"Don't ever let me see you again."_

"Garrus," he began and paused trying to think of the right thing to say. "I swear. I'll do anything I can to make this right."

There a long silence on the comm. Garrus was probably still thinking about shooting him. _"Nothing you do will make it right."_ Garrus' tone was final.

* * *

Garrus was not someone to bother at the moment, although he relented and showed Sidonis mercy he was still angry. He'd come very close to the edge he was actually thankful for Sidda, Nov, and Isla to pull him back from the edge. He wasn't a murderer but he nearly was then.

He stowed his gear and hid himself away from everyone. All he could hear was Sidonis' voice so he threw himself into work. Either on his sniper rifle or on the _Normandy's_ weapons array.

"Garrus," Isla said but he knew who had come through the door.

"What?" he asked with a flat tone.

"Are we okay?" she asked bluntly. Isla was a 'to the point person' and he knew that.

"You should have told me," he accused and Isla shrugged. She wanted to tell him but it was hard to pick the right time when you were running and gunning for your life but she understood his meaning.

"I know. I'm sorry." When he didn't turn to face her she sighed and turned away.

"Isla, wait," he said sharply putting his tools down and quickly catching her arm. "Everything for me is black and white. Rules. Right and wrong. Punishment," he explained. "I don't know what to do with grey." He put his left hand on her cheek and met her eyes. "Thank you for being there. For stopping me."

He kissed her and all his other problems seemed to melt away. He really did love her and was thankful every day that he tangled with her in that warehouse.

* * *

Sidda propped her feet onto the coffee table in Nov's living room and sighed tiredly. She'd taken a shower, changed, and had Chakwas look at the cut on her face on the _Normandy_ then made her way back to Nov's. She closed her eyes and relaxed into his couch.

"Beer?" Nov asked dangling the cold bottle in front of her over the back of the couch.

She smiled and opened her eyes to the sweating bottle he was holding in front of her. "Oh yes," she accepted.

He cracked the top off his own beer and sat down next to her. "Your crew always so needy?" he asked and she scoffed.

"Only when they need something," she muttered in reply making him laugh.

"How's your face?" he asked referring to the cut from mech debris.

Sidda shrugged as he tapped the control on the coffee table for the TV. "Just a scratch. What are you doing?"

"Bringing you up to speed on some of the vids you've missed," he said and she shook her head.

Joker had been trying to do that. "Just not the Hanar one."

"What, you don't want to watch Blasto the first Hanar Spectre?" he joked knowing full well she'd shoot the TV while watching that.

"My life is already a giant joke, I don't need to watch a Hanar give me a play by play," she replied taking a long swig of the beer. "I thought you were getting me dinner."

"It's on its way."

"What no cooking?"

"Are you gonna be this nitpicky about everything?" he asked and she chuckled. "Fleet and Flotilla?"

"God, no. Adrien made me watch that already. It was good but _long_." The door chimed indicating the food had arrived.

"You know, I really did want to surprise you with the whole Spectre thing. I wasn't trying to hide it from you," he explained on his return with the pizza for her and whatever else he ordered for himself.

"I know. I didn't mean to get all uppity with you about. You are the perfect choice for a Spectre, Cal, and I'm very proud of you." He nearly looked embarrassed as he sat down putting the food on the coffee table.

"Do you know who recommended it?" he asked and she shook her head.

"Nihlus."

Sidda paused and allowed a smile. Not only was Nihlus impressed by Sidda he was also impressed by Nov. "Good old, Nihlus."

Sometime during the movie Sidda lost all interest. She hadn't forgotten about her mid combat daydreaming about the Turian sitting quietly next to her. She sat up and straddle his lap much to his surprise. Sidda cupped his face with her hands and kissed him. Unlike Victus, the concept of kissing was not new to him. He'd learned to appreciate the soft, warm, wet lips so when Sidda gave him the very definition of a passionate kiss it wasn't a lost effort.

He felt her going for the fastener on his tunic and he ran his hands up her back getting a purr from her. She broke away from him with an irritated grumble to argue with his tunic's fastener and she heard a chuckle from him. This is what he'd wanted for years and his aggressive lover side took over. Hearing a growl from him the next thing she knew she was on her back. He kissed her neck knowing that it was a sensitive spot on Asari and apparently the same for a Human. She moaned under him as he drifted down to her clothes. Whereas, she was patient enough for his buttons and zippers he was not. As soon as the innocent clothing gave him a hint of resistance he gave it a yank. The black civilian attire didn't stand a chance against a sexually impatient Turian.

"I just bought that, Callus," she grouched hearing the fabric tear and he ran his tongue down the right side of her neck.

"I'll buy you more," he dismissed and gathered her up in one swift display of strength taking her to his bed.

* * *

Nov was pretty sure Sidda's screaming woke up the neighbors. He was actually surprised that no one called C-Sec thinking that he was killing Sidda. She was face down in the sheets and sleeping soundly. Her back and shoulders had several forming bruises both from his hands and his mouth. He felt a little guilty and responsible for that but he had always been a bit aggressive in bed. She was clearly marked for everyone to see with hickeys forming on her left jaw and left side of her neck not to mention the ones below the collar line.

Sidda woke up feeling better than she had in a while. Apparently sex was what was needed to clear her mind of all the crap going on. Between her apparent death, resurrection, shock of reality, and her personal life she needed a stress relief. Nov was a very good lover; by his reputation she expected nothing less. She stirred around in the bed but found that she was alone and Nov was nowhere to be found. She sat up and groaned, her whole body ached, in her mind she'd gone only a few months without sex but her 'new body' wasn't used to the size, strength, and Nov's apparently rambunctious behavior in bed. She could see forming bruises on her arms and further down on her hips and a red mark on her lower abdomen from one of his bites. She snorted at the rather overzealous behavior and had to wonder just how long he had been waiting for that. She stood and searched around for her clothes. Since Nov shredded her shirt she'd have to find a replacement but for now her bra and pants would suffice.

Nov saw the door to the bedroom open and stood up straight from the counter he was leaning. "Good morning," he greeted and looked back down at the news datapad he was reading.

"Cal," she replied with a sweet smile as she made her way over to him. Nov let out a growly purr as he looked her up and down, he loved the way she said his name. "That was fun," she said pleasantly and Nov tilted her head to right with his left hand.

"It shows," Satisfied with his handiwork.

Sidda narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Nov snorted. "You didn't notice?" he asked. "You are now unmistakably marked."

Sidda turned to the nearest reflective surface and saw the hickey on her jaw and the two on her neck. "Christ, Cal!" she exclaimed. "It's gonna take a ton of make up to cover all that up."

Nov shifted his weight from foot to foot, he didn't like that. He wanted people to know she was a Turian's mate. Mate may have been a little presumptuous but it was how he saw her. In his mind there was no other female, just her. "Please don't." he requested and she paused looking at him. Her expression told him that he needed to clarify a little. "You and Victus may have wanted to keep it under wraps but I don't."

Turians were territorial about their mates and she was certain that was how he looked at her. She moved between him and the counter rubbing her body onto his. "Okay," she accepted with a smile. Nov's eyes roved over her as he observed her breasts tucked away inside the bra.

" _Sexy sight,"_ he thought to himself and a low purr escaped from him.

"Are you always like that in bed?" she asked placing her hands on his waist and pulling him toward her forcing more contact.

If Sidda didn't know any better his body language said he was almost a little embarrassed. "More or less," he replied a little sheepish. "I'm sorry if I was too rough."

Sidda giggled. "No. I liked it." And started to slowly unfasten his clothing.

The mix of her scent covered with his was starting to overtake him. "I liked you," he said and Sidda opened his shirt allowing her to run her hands over his exposed skin.

"Hmm…which part?" she flirted and kissed his chest. Nov purred, surprised that she was ready for another round. He was convinced that sometime during one of their sexcapades he'd hurt her but apparently, she was tougher than even he thought.

"All of you," he purred and reached down to the back of her thighs lifting her up on to the countertop and parting her legs with his body. She scooted toward him enough make solid contact with his body and ran her right hand up his left mandible. He closed his eyes at her touch and took in her scent. He may not have said it but that was his mate's scent.

* * *

 _ **Note: All you Nov/Sidda fans may now implode.**_

 _ **Music I wrote that scene to: Put Your Lights On by Santana and Everlast and One Love by U2**_


	8. Chapter 8: Project Overlord

_**Note: Thank you very much for all the favorites and follows. Thank you for the reviews as well. Feedback is always appreciated.**_

 _ **I had to work this DLC into my story, Overlord was definitely one of my favorites and I took it and made it my own. Please enjoy and thank you for reading.**_

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Chapter Eight: Project Overlord**

The only person on the _Normandy_ that Sidda could say she was afraid of – or at lease leery of – was Zaeed. He was a mercenary, a ruthless one at that, and she had his undivided fury at the moment. Zorya was an enlightening experience. Zaeed's history was interesting and he'd survived a bullet point blank to the head. She'd forced Zaeed to give up on his need for revenge and let Vido escape. Had Samara not been there Sidda was certain she would have had to fight both Zaeed and Isla on that platform but she didn't. They both wanted Vido dead for different reasons.

"That's enough, Zaeed!" she barked to silence him. "You want revenge, I get it. I really do."

"You don't get a fucking thing! That man is a murderer, a rapist, and he tried to kill me," Zaeed snarled back.

"I know that, Zaeed, but I was not about to let all those people die just to satisfy your grudge."

Zaeed took a threatening step closer. No one else on the ship could make her flinch but Zaeed was damn close. She didn't want to fight him but if she did she wouldn't shoot to wound. Vido shot him in the head and he survived. "I was wrong about you," he growled. "Your reputation is fake. Just a pretty cunt who got lucky."

Sidda's teeth clenched. "One more word, Massani, and we can throw down right here," she replied in kind and he saw the faint blue glow and felt the negative pull of dark energy. "I know what I cost you and I will make it right. We found him once and I will find him again, on that I promise." She remained calm despite the danger she felt she was in. Zaeed was a very dangerous man. "Those are my term, if you don't like that I can take you back and drop you off on the rock I found you on."

Zaeed weighed his options. He'd end up having to fight the whole damn ship if he challenged her. She was his best option to find Vido again. He didn't say anything, didn't heel, didn't give in, he just growled and stormed out.

Once he'd left Sidda let out a breath and practically deflated. _"Are you alright, Shepard?"_ EDI asked and this was the one time Sidda didn't care that she had a voyeur.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied letting out another deep breath. "I am really glad I didn't have to fight him."

" _That would not have happened, Commander, I would have implemented countermeasures to subdue Mr. Massani."_ The AI told her.

"Thank you, EDI."

" _You are welcome. There is a message from the Illusive Man marked as urgent, Commander."_

* * *

Sidda avoided the powder keg that was forming within the crew. Isla thus far didn't seem to blame her for letting Vido escape but Zaeed remained as pissy as ever. She ignored his attitude. Let him fumed quietly. Along with her mission to save the galaxy from galactic extinction she was once again relegated to the role of galactic cleaning crew just like she had been for Hackett. She spent most of her time destroying Cerberus cells.

Sidda met Nov at Dark Star as he had asked. She wasn't much into the club scene anymore but didn't mind it with Nov. "Hey," he greeted with a smile. She still had visible, albeit fading, marks from their first night together and he loved seeing that. "There's my girl."

"Hi, Cal."

"You want a drink?" he asked and she shook him off. She was pressed for time and when she was with him she tended to let time run away from her.

She had a practical reason. Yes, she didn't have much time, but also there was a track record. "Every time I go into a bar with you I get into a fight," she told him and he chuckled.

Nov could care less. Bar fights were fun…mostly. "You know that's when I fell in love with you."

She narrowed her eyes. "What?"

He remembered a good deal of what happened in Oblivion despite the epic hangover. "You took on bar full of Turians to save my drunk ass."

She scoffed. Her head hurt just thinking about that. "It was stupid, Cal, alcohol or military bravado, I don't know which was worse. And I didn't do it alone, I had Damar as backup."

He chuckled. "Stop trying to talk me out of it," he smiled. "You sure you don't want a drink?"

She shook her head again. "Nah, I actually don't have a lot of time. You think the Spectres can spare you for a bit? I'd like your help on something."

Nov nodded as he downed a shot. "Whether or not the Spectres can spare me, all you have to do is ask."

"Aww, you're sweet, Cal," she giggled.

"You need to get out more. Straight to business…not even a 'hi there, how are you'."

"Hi, Cal, how are you?"

"Wishing I could have you in my bed every night," he replied seeing her blush a deep shade of red. "Will you hurry up and destroy the collectors so I can have you every night?"

"Do you use that line on everyone?" she asked and he chuckled.

"Is it working?"

"Come with me and find out," she flirted. "On second thought, I think I will have a drink." She decided and stepped away from the table they were standing by. She bumped into a few Batarian by accident and apologized. "I'm sorry."

The two Batarians scoffed at her. "Humans are the scum of the galaxy," one grumped to his companion. "Everywhere you turn they skitter around like rats."

Sidda sighed letting the Batarian run through the typical insult. She wasn't looking for a fight but knew that Nov saw and heard the exchange. "Look, I said I'm sorry. I don't want to fight."

"You're the so called 'Hero of Elysium'…you killed a lot of my people that day…," the other one growled, his hostility clear and got closer to Sidda. Too close for Nov's comfort.

"Back off," Nov warned and the Batarian shot him an undeterred look.

Sidda sighed. "Is that the best you got? I've been trash talked by things way bigger than you," she snipped and the Batarian grabbed the front of her shirt yanking her towards him.

Nov was in action before anyone knew it and yanked the Batarian away from her with an angry, threatening growl. "Touch her again and I'll pull your eyes out through your asshole, got it?" he threatened and Sidda snorted at his colorful choice of phrases. "Now, back the hell off."

The Batarians were drunk but were not looking to tangle with him and Nov shoved him backward. He turned back to Sidda who was smiling with her head cocked to the right. "Wow, I got a knight in black armor…," she said wistfully. "I didn't really need the help but I do like watching you flex some of that muscle to defend me."

Nov smirked and moved toward her looking her up and down. "Glad you like it. Let's go before they come back."

* * *

Nov was flat out amazed by the _Normandy SR2_ , the first _Normandy_ was impressive but this one blew it away. "Wow, talk about an upgrade," he praised. "This is one beautiful ship."

Sidda smiled but felt the need to warn him. "Cal, just promise me you'll keep a lid on whatever you see."

Nov accepted the human phrase. "I've been special forces my entire adult life, Sid, I know the meaning of classified."

She nearly laughed. "I'm serious, Cal."

He cocked his head, curious now, as they stepped off the elevator to her quarters. "What the hell do you have on this ship?" he asked as she moved in and opened the door to her spacious quarters.

" _Welcome aboard, Spectre Nov,"_ EDI said over the comm and the Turian froze, confused by what was addressing him. _"it is good to finally meet you in person."_

"And who would you be?" he asked and the icon for EDI appeared to his left.

"Cal, that's EDI, the _Normandy's_ artificial intelligence."

Nov didn't hide his shock. He really couldn't "What?"

"EDI's an AI, fully self-aware, installed on this ship for this mission by Cerberus," she explained and Nov stood speechless. A thousand questions hit him but he couldn't think of a single one to ask.

"A Cerberus ship with aliens on it and an AI installed onboard…I must be dreaming."

" _You are not, Spectre Nov, I was very impressed with your skilsl and service record. I look forward to working with you."_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, my service record? What the hell is Cerberus doing with my service record?"

" _When compiling dossiers for this mission you and Maj. Cerrus were considered as potential recruits."_ The AI explained and Sidda blinked. She had no idea Nov and Cerrus has been considered but wasn't exactly shocked that they were not included in the end.

"And I suppose I didn't make the cut?"

" _Your status in the military at the time made you unavailable and given Maj. Cerrus' feelings towards Humans he was deemed to be unsympathetic and dismissed as a potential recruit."_

"Oh, he'll love hearing that," Nov snorted. He wasn't happy with Cerberus having his classified records and would bring that up with Sidda later.

"EDI, can you give us some privacy?" she asked.

" _Of course, Commander."_

Nov looked around her quarters, for a frigate, these quarters were huge. The _SR2_ was bigger than the first one but still far smaller than the _Lante_. "Living the life of luxury, huh, Sid?"

"This is what I wanted you to look at," she said and handed him the pad. "I know it's not much to go on but I saw the words experimental technology and, no offense to Tali, thought of you. You're the best engineer I've ever see in my life."

Nov smiled as he scanned over the pad. "You don't have to flatter me, you've already got me."

Sidda rolled her eyes. "If you're up for it…feel like playing around in a highly experimental super-secret Cerberus cell?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

* * *

Sidda gave Nov the grand tour and introduced him to those he didn't know. He found Isla again, seemingly in a little bit of better mood. He noticed a hickey peeking above the high collar of the tunic she was wearing. He smiled to himself and decided not to poke the bear with her. Garrus, yes, but she reminded him of Cerrus in several ways. He had to give it to Garrus, Isla was very pretty. She did show him the rifle they all used during the assault on the abandon foundry. The Mattock was, in a word, magnificent.

He sighted down a Mattock pulled tight to his shoulder and dry fired it. "Honey, can I have one?" he asked Sidda with a chuckle.

"Can we spare one, Isla?" Isla didn't mind Nov, he talked a lot but he was nice enough and he knew his weapons. She smiled at his enthusiasm and nodded.

"Yes, you can have one," Sidda grinned and he set the rifle back down on the table.

"I'll be back to mod that," he said to Isla who just snorted.

"You don't need to mod it," she said and he looked at her.

Sidda giggled. "Cal, you can stay and play if you want."

He shook his head. "No, I'll come with you."

"This is the Tech Lab…figured you'd want to play in here too," she waved a hand with a chuckle and Nov tapped a few things on the consoles. A few griped at him due to lack of clearance or access but he left them alone.

The Salarian ticked away at his console but gave them his attention when they approached him. "Ahh, Commander," Mordin began and he looked from her to Nov.

"Mordin, this is Callus Nov," she introduced. "Cal, Dr. Mordin Solus."

"Glad to meet you," Mordin replied. "Have heard of exploits, Capt. Nov. Understand you have significant technical skills."

Nov shrugged and Sidda seemed to beam with pride. "Cal here hacked his way through a secret Batarian base once."

"Yes, of course. The extraction of Spectre Kryik," Mordin nodded and Nov narrowed his eyes.

"STG," Sidda clarified. Nov could have guessed that. Mordin didn't seem like the cowardly, hyper active Salarians that were crawling on the Citadel. He had scars, and from what he judged, carried himself with confidence. "Well, we won't keep you, Mordin, just wanted Cal to meet everyone."

"Actually, Commander, wanted to talk…medical matter, pertinent for Capt. Nov to remain, aware that you have physical and sexual relationship. Recommend caution with Turian. Ingestion of dextro or amino material may cause anaphylaxis. Turian males also larger than Human in many respects, suggest you be gentle."

Nov blinked. The topic of conversation that taking them both by surprise. Sidda couldn't believe what she was hearing. Honestly, she thought he was joking but then she quickly realized he wasn't. "Uhh, Mordin, it's okay. He's not the first Turian I've had. I can handle it." As soon as the words left her mouth she couldn't believe she'd actually said that. How embarrassing.

Nov was having a very difficult time stifling a laugh.

"Oh," Mordin stammered, "impressive, Commander." Sidda wanted to punch him and Nov then go hide and never come out again.

Nov failed to stifle that one and a laugh escaped. Sidda was extremely uncomfortable but he was trying not to drop and roll on the floor laughing.

"Stop laughing," she ordered and he only laughed harder. "Are you kidding me, Mordin?"

"I would never, Commander." The Salarian sounded almost offended by the insinuation that he would use this as a joke. Sidda's face burned. "Chafing also common. Turian have tougher skin plates, against sensitive human flesh prolonged rubbing may cause discomfort. Suggest the shower, warm water will soften Turian plates and provide lubrication."

By this time Nov stopped trying to hide it. He doubled over laughing as Sidda's embarrassment deepened the color of her face. Sidda was beyond embarrassed and flustered. "You, stop laughing," she ordered again pointing at her Turian laughing Hyena. "Mordin, really, I appreciate the concern but I do know how to…have sex with a Turian." That sounded worse out in the open.

Mordin ignored Nov. To him this was all practical, as a physician and a scientist it was his duty. "Understood, still recommend keeping epinephrine on hand for accidental exposure. Will also have ointments and creams available for skin irritation or inevitable abrasions, Turians bite when they mate." This whole conversation was getting worse as it went along. "Advise you to be careful when biting, aware Turians like to bite the neck, erogenous zone on Human as well as Turian, Humans however have more vital components in the neck."

"Mordin, I am begging you, on my hands and knees, please…stop." She was mortified but Mordin was just being a scientist and a doctor. Nov was still laughing.

"Apologies if I made you uncomfortable, Commander. Please see me if you need anything more."

On the way out Sidda was certain she would never be able to look Mordin in the eye again. "Can we try the shower thing now?"

* * *

Aite was the picturesque garden world, a planet that was ripe for colonization. It was as close to Earth as you could get but with the added attraction of faint rings. The rub was that the planet was going to be destroyed in 200 years or so by its destabilizing moon. Other than that, Aite was beautiful.

Sidda picked Garrus and Tali to come along. When it came to Tech it never hurt to being others along. Garrus and Tali made an excellent team anyway.

"What is that?" Nov asked indicating a ground ship he had never seen before.

Sidda smiled, for all its shortcomings, she loved the Hammerhead. It was fast, maneuverable, powerful…but yes, it was made of glass. "M-44 Hammerhead. Not as tough as the Mako but it is definitely more my speed."

Dropping from the _Normandy_ in the Hammerhead was a lot like a Mako drop. The Hammerhead was a smoother ride and its thruster fire wasn't nearly as violent as the Mako's. The force was still felt but Nov loved the feel of a drop. Sidda put the Hammerhead squarely in the middle of the landing pad at the designated coordinates. It was a base that turned out of be one of many for what was called Project Overlord. The name was ominous enough to make Sidda unhappy and it got worse with the explanation of what was going on. Leave it to Cerberus to try to create a VI/Human Hybrid…and then let it get away from them.

The VI overwhelmed the human volunteer and took over any VI in the area including the mechs designed to protect the scientists. Instead they became the executioner…and there were Geth. Yes, Project Overlord was another Cerberus experiment that went ass up.

Sidda and her team cleared up Hermes Station, the communications center apparently, before the runaway VI used it to broadcast to the whole system. It was collectively agreed that that would be a horrible thing. From Hermes station Sidda piloted the Hammerhead to Vulcan Station, Overlord's geothermal plant. A little bit of lava hopping and a disheveled facility later Nov talked Sidda into letting him take a spin with the Hammerhead and declared Sidda the best girlfriend ever.

"Next target is Prometheus Station." Archer's information on this was vague. They knew it housed the Geth they were experimenting on.

"What's with these names?" Nov asked punching a few keys on the console. The Hammerhead was simple enough to figure out how to control.

Sidda situated herself in the gunner seat as the Hammerhead hummed smoothly through the valley. "In Greek mythology Hermes was the messenger of the gods. In Roman mythology, Vulcan was the god of fire and smithing."

"Well that fits," Tali commented, Vulcan station was definitely hot.

Nov spared his girlfriend a glance. "Dare I ask what Prometheus is?"

Ancient Earth history was something Sidda liked, she'd read books as a hobby when she was growing up and took electives while at the academy. "Prometheus was a Titan, stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, for which he was severely punished."

Nov, as with everyone else, could see the parallels. "Can't say I like the sound of that."

"Just do what I do, Nov, expect the absolute worst on a mission with Sidda…that way you can only be surprised," Garrus put in and Sidda glared at him. He wasn't wrong but she still glared at him.

Much like the Mako, the Hammerhead a gunner seat and a mechanic seat. With Nov piloting, Sidda took the gunner seat and Tali the engineer station, while Garrus relaxed in the back. The Hammerhead was a smooth ride until it jolted forward like Nov hit the jets. The Hammerhead was easy to fly but something wasn't right. "Umm…uh oh," Nov muttered catching Sidda's attention.

"What?"

"I don't have control," he answered and tapped several keys to try and get a response from the flight controls.

Sidda gave him her full attention but was just as confused as he was. "What do you mean you don't have control?"

"What part of that do you not get, Sid?" he responded while still trying to illicit some kind of response from the controls. "I don't have control, it's not responding."

"Why?" it was a stupid question really but she couldn't stop the question. Nov was annoyed, that was the only time he really snapped at her but she could also tell he was worried when he stopped talking all together.

The Hammerhead's VI screeched to life revealing the rogue VI that had taken over Project Overlord. "Might have something to do with that," he said.

The Hammerhead launched upward with far more trust that it was normally capable of, jostling them all. "Override the VI," Garrus suggested, "purge it."

Nov was trying but the VI screeched at him again. "I can't. I'm locked out."

"Pull it," Tali said and was in action before anyone really knew it. She moved from her seat to the small space to the right of the pilot's seat.

"Altitude's increasing…I thought this thing had max thrust." Sidda said and Nov ignored it.

"Come on, Tali," Nov encouraged. He wasn't clear on what she was doing, but of everyone in the Hammerhead besides himself, he bet she would fix this…or at least get him some sort of control back.

Tali opened the panel under the main console, scanned it quickly making the VI screech again, pulled the entire relay. Half the systems went dark and the engines went silent.

"Well, I think that solved the VI problem," Nov muttered as they felt the weightlessness of the Hammerhead ceasing its ascension and falling back to Aite.

"Altitude?" Garrus inquired feeling a bit superfluous in the situation.

"225 meters," Sidda replied as Tali kept working from where she pulled the relay.

"Oh, boy," Nov muttered. "Tali, I need control back now."

"Working on it," she said sharply. Nov kept trying to fire the engines but whatever Tali was doing wasn't done yet.

Nov watched the altimeter dropping like a rock. "Tali…," he pressed again but the Quarian didn't respond right away. "Tali."

"Got it," she announced and scooted back as quickly as possible. There was only one way out of this and she really wanted the Hammerhead's seat restraints for it.

The Hammerhead whirred back to life. "Alright, hang on." The Hammerhead was going far too fast and Nov hit the thrusters to slow down before they splattered to the ground. They all felt the Gs and Nov felt like someone was sitting on his chest. The Hammerhead shook as Nov taxed the thrusters more and more, they were going to overheat. His quick calculation deduced that they wouldn't be slow enough before they hit the surface. The impact would kill them. "Come on, come on. This is gonna be close."

Without the VI he had to calculate this in his head and hit the boost at the perfect time before hitting the surface then control the speeding Hammerhead until it slowed enough they could stop. The Hammerhead approached the surface and Nov fired the boost. The force of it hit and they felt more Gs as the Hammerhead rocketed forward. The impact was felt as the ship bounced hard on the surface sounding like it bottomed out and fish-tailed, threatening to spin out of control across the landscape. Now it was all piloting, Nov focused on the terrain speeding past him.

To the outside observer it probably looked like the Hammerhead was in a road race, weaving through canyons and down creek beds, but in reality, Nov was just trying to make sure they didn't hit anything. If they did they were dead. They came out of the canyons and reached green rolling fields and the Hammerhead had bled off enough momentum they could come to a stop.

The occupants let out a collective sigh and Nov collapsed back into the seat clearly relieved. "Fuck me," he swore. "Everyone okay?"

Garrus grunted righting himself in the back

"Keelah," Tali responded also relieved but she was the real hero here.

Sidda leaned over and kissed Nov. "Nice flying, Cal."

Nov wished he could take the credit…he couldn't it was gravity that ran that show. "More like falling."

"Nov, I'm gonna buy you a bottle of whatever you want," Garrus told him from the back of the Hammerhead.

The other Turian scoffed. "Not me. Tali's the hero here…pulling the VI control…nice thinking."

"Are we good to go?" Sidda asked and Nov tapped a few things on the console.

Nov and Tali weren't sure. "Give us a minute." Nov replied as Garrus exited the ship to look at the exterior. The Hammerhead wasn't as tough as the Mako and it had landed hard, the thrusters smelled like they were burning but seemed to be intact.

After a few minutes he returned and reported as Tali and Nov finished their quick check. "No automap, VI targeting assist is down," Nov told her and tapped one more thing, "most everything works so long as it didn't need a VI to run it."

"Manual control?" she asked and he nodded.

"I can fly it manually, Garrus on the guns, Tali on maintenance…we can do it."

Sidda nodded. "Just like the Mako."

Garrus snorted. "Made of glass." He switched places with Sidda in the gunner seat.

* * *

Nov went a bit slower with the Hammerhead under manual control. Even with the VI offline the ship handled beautifully. Too bad it wasn't as tough as it should be.

"Approaching the coordinates for Prometheus Station," Tali announced.

Nov brought the Hammerhead to a stop at the edge of a drop off and let Tali scan it. "Son of a bitch," Garrus said as he saw what they all saw.

A derelict Geth ship. "Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity," he repeated. "Well that fits."

"Are you calling the Geth gods?" Tali inquired and Nov stammered.

"No…I just think we're gonna get our asses kicked."

"Rogue VI presences confirmed. It has control of the cannon." Tali informed as her console squawked at her.

The Hammerhead was fast but could not take a hit. "We are definitely gonna get our asses kicked."

"Maybe not," Garrus thought out loud. "Those shield pylons…take them out and we can get in under the gun and take it out."

The two Turians looked at each other and Sidda certainly saw them smile. "I run you gun?" said Nov. They were grinning…she was sure of it.

All Sidda could do was hang on and observe. Nov dropped the Hammerhead at a 90-degree angle to the cannon that was 'infected' by the rogue VI and begun his game. The goal was to let it target, lock, and then gun it out of the way.

"What's this remind you of?" Garrus asked conversationally like he was actually enjoying himself.

The Hammerhead had a gun that rivaled the Mako's and it made short work of the shield pylons once Nov used the Geth cannon to blow away the individual shield protecting them. "APC training," Nov chuckled.

APC training was just what it sounded like, it wasn't dull and war games were used. "Gotta be the best week of boot," Garrus replied.

"I'll go with squad tactics."

Garrus couldn't argue. Squad tactics was late in the training, the recruits against the instructors. "Which did you have?"

"Warehouse. You?"

"Spaceport."

"Ouch."

Sidda cleared her throat pointedly. "Gentlemen, I know you're having fun an all but…could we?"

"You just sit in the back and take a nap, Sid, let the Turians handle it," Nov chuckled as he continued the simple pattern of allowing the Cannon to lock and then scoot out of the way.

Tali chuckled and Sidda sat back. "And that's when I shot him, Your Honor," Sidda muttered.

* * *

The crashed Geth ship was in a word, creepy. It was far too quiet and had disabled Geth everywhere. The big Prime in the foyer was a troubling item. It appeared to be in stasis but given Sidda's luck it wouldn't be in stasis for very long. They pressed on to override Prometheus' lockdown.

Nov was examining a console when the VI appeared and screamed an indecipherable message again. He lingered a moment as the image lingered longer than it normally did. Something nagged at him. It had been nagging since Hermes Station, the explanation from Dr. Archer was plausible but something didn't add up he just simply couldn't figure it out.

"What's up?" Sidda asked as the green flickered and vanished.

"I don't think this thing wants to hurt us."

Sidda's brow furrowed. "Uhh, have you been here this whole time?"

"Yeah, I know, Hermes, Vulcan, drop us from a great height…I just…I don't know," Nov acknowledged knowing how crazy it sounded but it was a nagging feeling that was driving him crazy. "Nevermind."

Sidda wasn't sure what to say. "Come on, I think Tali's done with tetrus."

Getting out of the crashed Geth ship was hairy to say the least, even though they had all anticipated having to fight Geth on the way out, they were nearly overwhelmed by the sheer force. As of right now Sidda was extremely glad she'd brought this team with her. Nov and Tali alone were a devastating duo. The Prime that they had been leery of on the way in didn't disappoint on the way out. They had all fought Primes before but this one took it to a whole other level…even with it being at the disadvantage of elevation.

"I guess that one gets the gold medal for toughness. Damn," Sidda commented as the behemoth fell. "Cal, you okay?"

Nov took a hit right to the chest from the plasma rifle. His shields and top of the line armor kept him alive but it still felt like he'd been run over by a Krogan. "Yeah, I'm okay," he managed out and looked down at his chest.

Garrus piloted the Hammerhead to Atlas Station so Nov could take a little break. Mostly he needed to evaluate his armor, there was damage but his omni-tool read that it was superficial.

"What's on your mind, Cal?" she asked, he was uncharacteristically quiet.

He was still thinking about the entire situation. The more stations they tore through the more he felt that there was more to this. "Archer's not telling us everything."

"Yeah…I'm sensing that too," she agreed. "Still think the VI doesn't want to hurt us?"

"It's doing everything it can to achieve its goal but…I don't know…something doesn't feel right," he told her and was aggravated that he couldn't pinpoint his intuition.

"Alright, kids," Garrus announced from the front. "Atlas Station."

"Looks like we'll figure it out soon enough," Sidda muttered and he snorted.

* * *

Atlas Station was worse than all of them combine, although it didn't have the creep factor of Prometheus. Once again it was shockingly easy to get in but they knew that the problems would surface when they wanted to get out. They reached the lockdown and carefully entered the room. So far it was all too easy, this was the main lab, it was far too easy and they all knew it.

"Don't be surprised that if by hitting this I summon the end of the universe," Nov joked carefully examining the area.

"Or a Reaper," Sidda muttered. The other shoe had to drop at some point.

"I think those are the same thing," Garrus added.

Nov touched the console and felt the virus invaded his Omni-tool and crawled up into every cybernetic implant he had. He let out a strangled scream as a sharp pain arrived in his temple then dissipated. To Sidda the scream sounded like the distorted noise on the monitors. His vision changed and seemed like that of a virtual reality.

"Cal?" he heard ringing in his ears and Sidda was starting to panic. "Cal, are you okay?"

He couldn't respond even if he was coherent enough to do so. Sidda was worried. It seemed that the virus took over Nov's body. His eyes were the green color of the monitors and he seemed dazed.

Nov staggered a bit as he walked and collapsed to his hands and knees in the corridor they came in. He heard the door close behind. He was so disoriented he felt nauseated but when it cleared up his realities had merged. He was in the same facility but the environment was virtual. Gold grid patterns were hard to look at because the depth perception was off. He turned back to the door that had closed behind him. "Sid!" he shouted but there was no response.

He stumbled as he moved back down the hall they'd came from. He saw a green orb in one of the labs and headed towards it. His head was starting to throb. The virtual reality was very disorienting. As soon as he got close to the orb it was revealed to be a data node, for lack of a better term. He watched Gavin Archer talking with someone, presumably his brother. His brother seemed a bit strange, almost like a Salarian. He attributed that to the mental disorder he suffered. Once that construct was finished he moved to another one. This one showed David conversing with the Geth. It was amazing really. No one had figured out to actually communicate with the Geth in their own 'language' but this young man had. It was incredible.

Nov was beginning to understand. The more 'nodes' he watched the more this made sense. The virus was David. The poor kid was trapped and terrified. By the time he watched the last node in the labs he understood fully and he was going to kill Gavin Archer. They had been told David volunteered but that wasn't the case. At first it seemed he had but when David asked him to stop his brother ignored it and forced him into the merging, the VI then proved to be too much for him and overwhelmed him. "Hang in there, Kid, I'm going to help you," he said aloud after the familiar plea from David was heard. Begging for someone to help him.

His head still hurt but he pressed on. Blended realities or not, he found Geth, firing his rifle made his head throb even more but he had to disconnect the VI/Human Hybrid before it uploaded into the _Normandy._ As he was fighting everything began to make sense, Prometheus, Hermes, and Vulcan Stations all had the same thing in common Mechs and Geth doing all they could to carry out the VI – or David's – wishes. It wasn't until now Nov understood they were trying to help him.

"Please! Make it stop!" David cried again.

"Kid, stop throwing the Geth at me, I'm trying to help!" he shouted ducking behind a pillar. The AI Core had cables leading to it and he had to decide quickly how to stop the upload. The Core was shielded but a big enough explosion would take care of that once the shield was down. The small green orbs of the virus travelled down the cables to the core. He shot them before the made it, then shot the Geth that materialized to stop him. The Mattock was a gift from the spirits. They were protecting the Hybrid but the person screaming for help was the Human. When the Core shield dropped he let his Disruptor grenades fly. The grenades arched and hit the remaining Geth too. He shot again this time at the core, he deduced that bringing down the AI Core was the way to make this all stop.

His shields were brought down and he felt the impact of the Geth plasma rifle. "Come on, Kid, work with me," he grumbled while reloading his rifle. One more hit from the Disruptor grenades and the Core was down. Once the Core was down there was a pulse explosion and Nov was hit with the same disoriented feeling that he had before. The construct reality vanished showing the one he belonged in but his headache remained. Once he was able to focus he wished he hadn't seen what he saw.

"Quiet! Please, make it stop!" he heard David yell again.

He got his first look at David Archer, the VI/Human Hybrid. Nov was horrified and disgusted by what he saw. "Spirits," he breathed shocked by the Human hanging in the middle of the core with wires, tubes, and ports throughout him connecting him to the core. "David?"

"Please. Make it stop," he repeated in a quieter plea.

Nov didn't even know where to begin. All the technical knowledge he possessed and he had no idea what to do now. "Wait! Wait!" he heard from behind him. Gavin Archer, the one who presided over this particular corner of hell.

"What have you done to him?" he demanded. "You told us he volunteered!"

"It…it started that way but after a while…," he trailed off clearly understanding that this was wrong on every level. "Watching David communicate with the Geth…it was incredible. It all seemed harmless."

Nov wheeled on him and pointed to David. "Does THIS look harmless!?" he roared angrily.

Gavin didn't like being shouted at and glared at the Turian Spectre. "The Illusive Man demanded results, you don't understand-…"

"I don't give a fuck!" he roared. "He's your brother! He trusted you to protect him and you turned him into THAT!"

"You'll never understand. We needed a way to defend ourselves against the Geth-…"

Nov wanted to beat the daylights out of him but so far, he'd held his composure…barely. "The only reason the Geth attacked was because they were trying to help him!"

"You don't know that."

David infested his cybernetics to show him the truth so he absolutely did know what happened. "I do know that, I saw it, you son of a bitch," he snarled.

Gavin paused and considered what he had done. Something he should have considered long ago. "What I've done to David is unethical. Please, let me take him. Take care of him."

Nov laugh, he wasn't amused he was flabbergasted by the nerve of this man. "Are you kidding me? You're never going to see him again. Cerberus will never touch him again."

"You can't do that."

The best thing in the galaxy right now was that Nov actually could do what he threatened. "I am invoking Spectre authority under Council directive 2135-B and remanding David Archer into my care." He wanted to make sure he sounded official. If he had to he'd take this all the way to Council, the Asari, the Alliance, and the Turians. This was reprehensible no matter who you asked.

"You can't take him aw-…," Archer didn't get a chance to finish as Nov punched him across the jaw and once he was down he continued until the vile individual was subdued.

Nov didn't have siblings but he didn't need to have them to know that this was wrong. It enraged him beyond his senses. "You hear this because I'm going to say this once and never again: if you ever come near him, write him a letter, even think about him, I will kill you. I swear this on the two I hold dear and my own blood. I will kill you," he punched him again to make sure he remembered it.

"Cal!" he heard Sidda call. "Ca-…oh my god."

Nov moved away from the bloodied Doctor. "Sid, call the Alliance and you may want to get Dr. Chakwas down here too," he called back. "Garrus, lock this piece of shit in a hole somewhere."

Sidda wore the same horrified expression as Nov. She wanted to know what happened to David but was also concerned about what had happened to Nov. "What happened? Are you okay?"

His head still hurt but it was trumped by his anger. "You are not going to believe this shit."

Nov turned back to David chanting the same thing over and over again. "It all seemed harmless." How anyone could do this to another person let alone family was deplorable. David was also handicapped, a mental disorder and that enraged him further. "It all seemed harmless."


	9. Chapter 9: Glares, Glowers,and Pet Names

**_Note: Thank you all for the comments and reviews. I do appreciate it. Sorry this one took some time to get out but I got sidetracked a few times with other stories._**

 ** _Please enjoy and remember that feedback is always welcome._**

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Chapter Nine: Glares, Glowers, and Pet Names**

Nov was on the crew deck with his feet propped up on the table. Gardner had made him a reasonable facsimile of seasoned steak and turnips. Something that was Turian but easy to make, humans called it steak and potatoes, certain things, even food transcended species. They hung around Aite's orbit for a little while longer than Sidda had anticipated but then again she never expected to find what they had and for him to react the way that he did. It took Nov a while to simmer down after what he'd seen but he couldn't help it. Project Overlord disgusted him on every level but he knew that Sidda was in hot water with the Illusive Man now.

He heard Sidda coming before he saw her. "How'd it go?" he called as she came around the corner.

Sidda was annoyed; her chat with the Illusive Man resulted in her hanging up on him, so to speak. "I took a Spectre to top secret Cerberus project with questionable ethics to say the least. Yanked the rug from under them and took their subject and research to turn over to the Alliance…how do you think it went?" she asked and sat down next to him.

"Good thing you don't like him," he replied. He knew how it went, the only reason she was still in command of the _Normandy_ was because Cerberus needed her. Once this was over they would probably kill her.

She grunted in replied. "Hackett loves me, considering I send all these Cerberus nuggets to him when I find them." He looked much more settled now. "How are you do-…"

"I'm fine, Sid," he cut her off sharply knowing that was going to be her question.

"You were a bit rough on Dr. Archer down there."

"He's lucky I didn't kill him," he replied in a low tone. She narrowed her eyes at him and he sighed. "My mother's handicapped, not a mental disorder, but still…I don't know how anyone could do that to family."

Sidda didn't know much about his family aside from the fact his father was dead, that Nov hated him, and his mother was a botanist. "He should be in good hands with the Alliance, I asked them to keep me or you updated. What was it like being controlled by the VI?"

"David," he corrected. "And it gave me a headache." The mother of all headaches to be precise.

" _Commander, I would like to speak with you as soon as you are available."_ Samara interrupted on the comm and Sidda acknowledged.

Sidda grumbled and stood. "Jesus, can't anyone do anything for themselves on this ship?" she muttered.

"Perks of being at the top," he replied as he continued eating pausing only when she gave him a quick peck on the left mandible.

Samara was oddly antsy when Sidda found her in the Observation lounge, rather than her typical meditation she was pacing. "Samara, you okay?"

"I have her, Commander, Morinth is on Omega," the Justicar said with the mild tone that masked the obvious sense of urgency.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. We must go there immediately before I lose her again." Samara sounded serious, focused and Sidda believed her.

"We're on our way to drop Cal off at the Citadel, we can go after."

"No. It must be now. I cannot risk losing her."

If it were anyone other than a Justicar Sidda may have told them to sit tight but Samara didn't get very riled up and Morinth sounded dangerous. "Alright…Joker," she began keying the comm, "course correction, take us to Omega."

" _Copy that, Commander."_

* * *

Mordin didn't mind sharing the Tech Lab with a temporary colleague while Sidda and Samara were on Omega. Nov was highly skilled and Mordin appreciated that. He was intrigued by the Turian in several ways, his technical skills and combat skills were just a part of it.

"Understand you have significant tolerance for pain. VI construct would have been painful and disorienting. Would like to study you, Captain," he said breaking the silence in the room.

Nov paused from what he was doing. "Cal," he corrected. "And you're not experimenting on me." So far, aside from the shoulder replacement, no one had experimented on him and he planned to keep it that way.

"You were incorporated into a VI construct."

Nov returned to looking over some omni-tool upgrades in an effort to upgrade Sidda's. Her Omni-tool had never had the level of tech ability that he was comfortable with. She needed an omn-tool that could handle anything. "And it gave me a headache. Which is gone now. I'm not going to be a lab animal, Mordin," he answered in a tone that ended the line of conversation.

The Salarian grunted. "Very well. See me if you change your mind."

"Not likely," he muttered.

"Prefer females of your species. Much more agreeable, even your Cabals," Mordin commented.

Cabal's were only deployed for special operations… _very_ special operations, and to be deployed with anyone other than Turian troops was even stranger. "When would you have worked with a Cabal?" he asked but never got the answer as the door opened. "Hey," he greeted Sidda. "I'd ask how it went but you look suspiciously empty handed."

Sidda groaned her response. He was right. "I have a proposition for you, Casanova." Nov straightened and gave her a look. She'd hadn't called him that in a while, it took time for him to know what it meant but he knew the meaning now.

He stepped closer to her and cocked his head to flirt with her. "Here? Now? In front of him?" Nov asked as he couldn't resist the temptation to play.

Sidda rolled her eyes. "Shut up and follow me."

He did follow her and he wasn't expecting sex or to end up in the Starboard Observation with Samara but he couldn't resist the urge to be crude. "Well, Sid…didn't know you were into Asari too."

Sidda sighed, he wasn't being mean he was just being himself and exceptionally playful. Samara didn't react to his comment but Sidda shook her head. "Cal…"

"I'm just kidding, I'm sorry," he chuckled. "What's up?"

Samara answered. "Have you heard of an Ardak-Yakshi?"

Nov was very suspicious now. "Demon of the Night Winds, yeah. Rare genetic disorder causes them to kill whoever they mate with." Oversimplified but accurate.

Samara blinked, clearly surprised by his knowledge of something the Asari tried to keep hidden. "Impressive, Spectre Nov."

Nov continued to impress. He was the jack of all trades…had knowledge of everything or so it seemed. "Let me guess, you've encountered one before?" Sidda asked and he shook his head.

He stayed far, far away from Ardak-Yakshi. "No, a relative of Shala's is one…she was sent to that Monastery of yours."

"We need you to be the bait for one." Sidda blurted knowing that they didn't have a whole lot of time to talk about this.

He blinked, and blinked again. "You need me to be the bait for the what now?" he asked and could have sworn he heard that wrong.

"We know where her preferred hunting ground is but-…"

"But you need to get her away from crowds and alone," he finished and the Justicar nodded.

"Alone and unaware so I may deal with her."

That meant kill her and Nov wasn't sure if he liked being tossed into the middle of it especially when they wanted to use him as bait for the most dangerous type of Asari there was. "Why me?"

"Because you're Special Forces and you can handle anything and you're the Asari magnet," Sidda replied with the truth on all points.

* * *

Nov didn't wear any armor, he wanted to, but there was no way he'd get an Ardak-Yakshi to let her guard down around him if he was in full armor. He had on all black casual wear and he smoothed his tunic in the mirror before stepping out of the bathroom. Sidda was sitting on the edge of the desk twirling a knife.

"You know you take longer than me to get ready," she sniped and he returned it with a smirk.

"Would have been a lot more enjoyable for you if you actually joined me in the shower," he replied and Sidda chuckled.

"Yeah but I don't think Samara is gonna want to wait that long while we have a lot of fun." She winked as he slipped his omni-tool on and headed toward the door. "Hey," Sidda stopped him putting a hand on his right arm. "They don't allow weapons but…take this."

She presented him with a boot knife and Nov gave her a curious expression. "Knife against an Ardak-Yakshi…"

Sidda shrugged. "I've seen what a Turian can do with just a knife," she said. "That Turian was Nihlus so let's see how you fair with it."

Nov rolled his eyes as she played with him. "Thank you for the vote of confidence," he grumped and strapped the knife to his left arm under the sleeve. "Let's go."

She stopped him again. "Cal," she began and it was obvious that she was worried about this. "be careful."

"I'll be fine," he assured and sounded as confident as ever. Maybe a little too confident.

"If she kisses you she kills you."

"I got it, Baby, don't get seduced by the life sucking Asari," he kidded trying to lighten the mood. "I'll be fine, Sid." She was still worried and he could tell. "You know back home, part of our old customs, you giving me a knife after I gave you one means we're betrothed."

The color in her face must have changed because he chuckled loudly. "Don't push your luck, Cal."

* * *

Omega was terrible. There were places that even Nov didn't like. The first thing he noticed was the smell. It was horrible. The second thing he noticed was Captain Gavorn. He looked familiar but Nov couldn't place him at the moment.

He listened to the diary of the poor human girl that was Morinth's last victim. "The more I listen to this the less enthused I am about it. How do you know she's gonna pick me, I'm nothing like this poor girl?"

"You're the self-proclaimed Asari lover you'll figure it out," Sidda replied and Nov gave her a sarcastic chuckle.

"I really hate you right now, Sidda."

The Club had the same vibe as Afterlife and Nov blended quickly but the Special Forces in him noted every threat in the room in a matter of minutes. The Krogan at the bar, the cluster of Turians in an alcove, Batarians who'd had too much to drink…and those were just the ones he saw right off the bat. As he was getting a drink from the bar he overheard the biggest threat. The cluster of Turians were talking about mugging people as they left the club. Not something he wanted to let happen if he could help it.

Nov sat down with them like he owned the place. "We need to talk, guys," he began and they all looked at him like he was crazy and they were going to kick his ass.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Not important," Nov replied quickly. "I know you guys think you're all tough and badass over here plotting the muggings of the patrons here but I'm here to tell you that you're not going to do that."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" One of them asked sounding inches from kicking Nov's ass.

"Because if you do you'll have to deal with me," he answered, confident enough to make them pause.

"And you would you be?"

"As I said, not important, but if Aria says 'no muggings' then there will be no muggings. So if I see or hear of any of you morons accosting the patrons here you get to deal with me."

"You don't work for Aria."

His deadly confidence was hard to ignore. "Do you really want to take that chance?" It was a bold faced lie. He'd met Aria once, was fairly impressed, but was by no means in her employ. It was a gamble and a major bluff…one they bought.

After he left them with the fear of any deity they had in them he mingled a bit more and helped an Asari dancer being hassled by a Turian. He did note that everyone he had an issue with was Turian, didn't say much about his brethren. He wanted to be noticed but keep a low profile at the same time. Mixing a tough guy routine with charm was a bit of specialty for him but he didn't want to overdo it. Two hours had passed and he hadn't been approached by one who seemed like a predator.

"You're the most interesting person in here tonight." A beautiful voice addressed him. He turned and found an Asari dressed all black and bearing a striking resemblance to Samara. She was an Ardak-Yakshi alright, that much he knew the moment he looked at her. No Asari looked at him that way. Like a predator looks at its prey.

"Is that so?" he replied and gave her his full attention.

"Yes," she replied. "I've been watching you all night. Come over…I have a table."

The next hour was tedious. She was testing him and it was crucial for him to not reveal his motives. Most Asari he was drawn to, they attracted him nearly instantly but this one actually repelled him knowing what she was and that she was cold blooded killer has an effect on him. She truly couldn't help it but it was her decision to live outside the designated Monastery. That made her a serial killer.

He managed to impress her but in his own right he was just as dangerous as she was. Nov kept up the act and left the Club with her. Sidda and Samara were nearby but out of sight and he focused on not losing her interest or tipping her off. She isolated him on her ground…he couldn't help but feel like a lamb to slaughter.

He looked around Morinth's apartment and listened to her prattle on. She was by far the most high and mighty Asari he'd ever met. Shala was 300 years old and had never made him feel inferior. He didn't like Morinth…not one bit.

He sat down next to her and felt fear for the first time in a long time. "You're not like the rest," she commented and he adjusted his seat to get more comfortable.

"Is that so?"

"We may both be killers but you and I are nothing alike."

"Why do you say I've killed? Enough of the games." She was spooked now. It wasn't the plan he had but there was nothing he could do about it now. "Look into my eyes and tell me you want me. Tell me you'd kill for me." He'd seen Shala embrace eternity before but when Morinth did it his brain fogged. "Tell me you want me," she said again and it took a moment for his head to clear, by that point she was so close to him she nearly kissed him.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts praising the military training and the fact that he'd been with Shala as many times as he had when she took him on a tour of 'eternity'. "Surprise, bitch," he snarled breaking her hold much to her surprise and punched her. She had recoiled far enough from him that he actually got a good hit. Morinth stumbled back as he stood. "Yeah, I know what you are."

Nov grappled with Morinth for a few seconds that seemed like minutes, Biotics were hard to fight against but there were courses upon courses at boot camp, OCS, and Special Forces training on how to do it and win. Nov didn't win but he was interested in buying time for Sid and Samara. He never had the upper hand with her but did match her until she trapped his right arm, she gave it such a hard pull he felt the synthetic weave give…or that's what it felt like. He gave a pained cry and the knife Sidda gave him sprang from his sleeve and he stabbed her in the neck forcing her to release him. His shoulder hurt like hell but he noticed Samara and Sidda arrived.

Morinth, being severely wounded with a knife driven into the nape of her neck, didn't make her a simple opponent to defeat. Nov and Sidda were superfluous to the biotic storm raging around them as Samara proved that she was the strongest.

"Damnit, I told you to be careful," Sidda snapped as he cradled his shoulder. It didn't hurt as bad as it did when he was shot or when he was in the hospital but it still hurt like a bitch.

"I was…," he snarled in pain and irritation. "It's my shoulder."

"I can see that," she snipped back. "I should never have asked you to do this."

If he didn't want to help he wouldn't have. "Everything was going fine right up there 'til the end."

Sidda geared her Omni-tool for a medical scan to see if he was injured anywhere else. "You mean when she tried to rip your arm off?"

"That would be the end," he replied and looked at her. "I'll be fine, Sid."

* * *

Samara was quiet; Sidda expected nothing less after she had to kill one of her daughters. She couldn't image what it would be like to have to do that. Sidda didn't push but offered her an ear if she needed it.

"OW!" she heard from the Med Bay as the door opened. Chakwas was in the process of removing his shirt and there really wasn't an easy way. Nov was glaring at her and holding his shoulder.

Chakwas didn't intend to cause him pain but sometimes it couldn't be helped. "What happened before?" Chakwas asked as she ran a scan over Nov's visibly swollen shoulder.

Sidda stayed quiet but both Nov and Chakwas saw her. "Sniper rifle, four years ago," he replied in a pained clipped tone. "Synthetic bone replacement, the entire shoulder blade"

Sidda stepped closer as the scan appeared on the monitor. "Well, Doctor?" she asked and had a flashback to seeing him in the infirmary on the _Lante_. She didn't like it then and she didn't like it now.

Chakwas harrumphed. "Nothing's broken, the synthetic bone weave is intact, just some hyperextension and tissue tears. I'll start a treatment for him but he'll make a full recovery."

She left and Sidda helped him lean back on the bed. This really was a flashback to the _Lante_. "Cal-…"

"Don't say it," he cut her off sharply. "You've said it ten times already I don't need to hear eleven. I'm fine." He hissed as he moved wrong. "I'll be fine; it just hurts like a bitch now."

She'd always worry about him just as he would always worry about her. "You want me to get a deck of cards?" she asked and he chuckled. "Keep the tradition going?"

* * *

The _Normandy_ was still docked at Omega giving Daniels and Donnelly time to go through the salvage yards for parts. Sidda informed Nef's mother that her daughter's killer had been brought to justice and made her way back to the _Normandy_ to get some sleep. Someone was in her quarters when she opened the door. Music was playing, her Earth music, which was enough to make her brow furrow. Even more so when she notice that the guest was Nov. The music was AC/DC; of course it was something that she expected him to be listening to since it was right up his alley.

"Found my music collection, eh?" she commented and Nov tapped the stereo control next to him.

"I have to say I like Earth music," he replied and went back to the chessboard on the table.

Sidda bent over and pulled her boots off tossing them down next to the bed. "Did you break out or did Chakwas release you?"

Nov continued to study the chessboard. "I am a highly trained Special Forces operative…I can get out of a Med Bay any time I want," he replied quietly and Sidda chuckled.

"She let you out?"

"Yep."

"How you feeling?" she asked and came over sitting down next to him. He fiddled with the chessboard looking like he was playing a game by himself.

"Sore but I'll live," he replied. "How's Samara?"

"Oh, you know, about how you'd expect after killing one of her children…actually better…must be an Asari thing."

"Justicar actually, it's all in the Code," he said and took a drink.

"Is there anything you don't know?" she asked and he snorted.

"Quite a lot, actually," he replied with a chuckle and handed her the knife she'd given him to take on the mission. "Thanks for this."

Sidda waved it off. "Keep it," she smiled and he set it down.

A Turian sleeping in a human bed wasn't easy. Turians weren't built like Humans or Asari and didn't lay flat to sleep. He managed but this wasn't easy. "Your mattresses are terrible," Nov complained trying to find a comfortable position on a bed that wasn't made with Turian's in mind.

Sidda chuckled as he stuffed another pillow under his head. "You seemed to like it not too long ago."

He paused and shimmied hoping he'd take the pressure off all the uncomfortable places. "I had other things on my mind…and other places," he said lewdly. "If you're really that concerned for my comfort you can occupy my mind some more."

Sidda chuckled and waited for him to stop squirming around. "Glad to know your shoulder feels better."

"No that still hurts…I blame your bed."

"You complain endlessly," she chided with a smile. "You don't blame the sex?"

"No male would ever blame the sex."

Sidda laughed and reached over him for the Datapad on the nightstand. "This came for you," she said handing it to him and then went back to snuggling against him.

Nov tapped the screen and opened the message. He read it and chuckled.

' _So I hear you are my new enforcer. Come see me next time you're on Omega. –Aria'_

"What the hell is that all about?" Sidda asked after he showed it to her.

"I told a group of Turians bent on mugging the people at the club as they left that I was Aria's enforcer," he sounded pleased with himself but in his head he knew that if Aria wanted to see him it probably wasn't good.

Sidda rose up on her right elbow. "You name-dropped Aria T'Loak?" Sidda she asked in disbelief. "Damn you're cool."

He laughed. "I won't be finding out what she wants to chat with me about any time soon."

"I thought she'd be right up your alley, Cal. Blue and bitchy."

"My tastes have shifted somewhat lately," he replied and she blushed.

"Aww, Cal…" she flirted and straddled him.

Nov purred as she kissed him. "I should get hurt more often."

" _Commander,"_ Chambers' voice came over the comm.

"Don't answer that," Nov said, she looked perfect sitting atop him.

Sidda had no intention of answering it and started to kiss Nov all over working her way down slowly.

" _Commander, come in please."_ Chambers repeated and Sidda groaned in unison with Nov's annoyed growl.

"What, Chambers?" she answered in an annoyed tone.

" _Sorry to bother you, Commander, but there is an emergency message from the Illusive Man."_ She said and Sidda sighed. Nov's hands were roving over her body but he was gentle with his claws. When she didn't respond Chambers tried again. _"He wishes to speak with you in the Comm Room."_

"Tell him to wait." Sidda bitched and got up to get dressed. "I'll be there in a minute."

Chambers acknowledged and Nov watched Sidda get dressed. "I'll just be waiting right here…I'd hurry back."

Sidda smirked at him as she sat down on the bed to pull her boots on. "Or you could take care of it yourself."

She gave him no slack and he loved that. "Oh that's cold," he laughed.

She giggled and leaned down to kiss him. "I'll be back."

"Tell the Illusive Man I said 'hello'."

"Yeah, because he loved the last message you sent him," she muttered on the way out the door. Nov enjoyed the fact that he sent the Illusive Man an unequivocal message.

* * *

Nov felt the ship move, she cleared Omega's docking cradle and was on the move. Something wasn't right so he got dressed and headed out to find Sidda and figure out what was going on. Yes they were due to head back to the Citadel but Sidda had been gone for longer than she should have been. He found her in the CIC at the galaxy map looking at what seemed to be their next destination.

"What's going on?" he asked suddenly appearing next to her.

"Oh, hey…sorry," she apologized for not returning.

Nov shook his head. "What's up?"

"Collector lead," she replied. "Sorry. We'll get you back to the Citadel soon."

"Are you trying to keep me here?" he asked with a flirty tone. She chuckled in response and shrugged.

Having Nov onboard felt like a safety net. He would always protect her and she knew that so having him around made her feel safe when she was surrounded by Cerberus. "You're fun to have around," she said and he looked at the blinking dot on the Galaxy Map.

He loved being around her and smiled before turning his attention to the Galaxy Map. "That's a bit like the middle of nowhere, where are you going?"

"Cerberus found a disabled Collector ship. Apparently it had a run in with a Turian frigate and was disabled, the frigate was destroyed but the Collector ship is adrift."

Nov paused and gave her a look. "A Collector ship? Like the one on Horizon or the one that took out the _SR1_?" he questioned and she nodded. "No way one of our frigates could do that solo."

Turian ships were tough no matter which class they were but a frigate against a Collector ship was wishful thinking at best. "Could have been one ship, could have been many. They weren't specific. We need intel on the Collectors so that's where I'm heading."

"I'm going with you," Nov said and Sidda shook her head.

"Not with your shoulder."

"To hell with my shoulder."

"No, Cal, you're staying here."

"Then you better handcuff me to the bed because I'm not staying behind. Something is wrong here, Baby, I know better than anyone except Garrus what our ships can do. The _Ramora_ is the meanest ship we have in the bag and I don't even think its firepower could have touched it. And why wouldn't Palaven res-…"

"Alright, alright, alright. Gear up and meet us on the flight deck."

* * *

Nov grimaced under the weight of the armor. His shoulder complained until it was fitted and fastened. It felt fine afterward but it would hurt like a bitch after. When he resumed active duty his first training op back in full armor it hurt nearly as bad as when he was shot.

"I am not looking forward to taking this off," he lamented.

"You can stay behind," Sidda replied as Thane and Isla finished collecting their equipment.

He shook his head. "I'll be alright. Armor is designed to help but getting out it is not gonna be much fun."

The fact that they landed without so much as a peep from the Collector Ship only furthered their unease. EDI reported no damage that she could find and just as Nov had pointed out there was no debris field.

Isla set the Kodiak down and turned to Sidda and her team. "Touchdown, Commander," she said and Sidda secured her helmet along with Nov and Thane.

A small team was best for this despite the Collector ship being enormous. "Okay, Isla, stay with the Kodiak, you're our ride out."

"Just watch for us to be running back screaming," Nov put in as he turned the disruptor ammo on his rifle.

Isla secured her helmet as well and scoffed at Nov's comment. "I'll believe that scene coming from you," she replied and Nov laughed.

Garrus chose well. "Oh I really like you," he chuckled.

"Cal," Sidda called as the side door opened.

"Coming," he replied still chuckling about the fact that Isla had his number and wasn't afraid to call him on anything she saw fit to. The hatch closed behind Nov but Isla remained ready for anything.

EDI linked their hardsuits to an uplink node so they could raid the databank of the Collector Ship, the best place or intel on the enemy was straight from their own computers. According to the headings though it took them deep in to the disabled vessel was unnerved them all.

"It looks like an insect hive," Thane noted and Sidda grunted.

"Oh, I hate bugs," she replied to him as they walked through its halls uncontested.

"I hate the fact that we haven't seen one single bad guy," Nov added and then the talking ended. They maintained silence. Thane may not have been military but his discipline was astounding. Nov admitted that he didn't know many Drell but it spoke well for Thane that Sidda brought him along over the likes of Garrus or Tali. People she knew and trusted.

They walked a bit further, still no signs of anything. "How could one Turian ship disable a vessel of this size?" Thane asked as they systematically covered a corner and kept walking.

"I don't think it did," Nov replied quietly. "Something is not right here, Sid."

She agreed but didn't voice it. _"I have compared this ships EM signature to known Collector profiles. It is the vessel encountered on Horizon."_ EDI informed and Sidda looked to Nov.

"Maybe the defense tower softened it up for the Turians," she said but Nov shook his head. He still wasn't convinced of that.

"Still don't think that's it, Sid."

There were a few more minutes of walking before they found one of the pods seen on Horizon. The three of them froze at the way the room appeared. "I love what they've done with the place." Sidda drawled and Nov scoffed at the pile of dead bodies. He praised the fact he had a helmet on so he didn't have to smell it.

"I don't like what the place has done to them," he said and squatted down to examine it closer. He wished he hadn't. Something horrific happened to those people, their bodies were flattened, limp, splattered with blood, truthfully, he didn't know what happened to them but his imagination was generating enough ideas to give him nightmares.

"Why would they do this?" Thane asked and Sidda shrugged.

"Nothing we can do for them now except put a stop to the Collectors entirely," Sidda said and patted Nov's shoulder indicating they needed to move on.

Further up the corridor, if you could call it a corridor, they found what looked like a lab. "Looks like a lab of some kind," Thane said and Sidda's brow furrowed under the helmet.

"Out in the open?" she questioned.

"For all we know this could be the bathroom," Nov added making Sidda snort.

Nov scanned the console and the creature on the lab bed. "Looks medical," he commented. "EDI, I'm uploading this can you see what they're doing?"

" _I can."_ She answered. _"Spectre Nov is correct; the data is primarily advanced genetics, looking for similarities between Humans and Collectors."_ That was unsettling and all three of them shifted uncomfortably. _"Preliminary scans, however, indicate something remarkable."_

"How so?"

" _A quad-strand DNA chain. Based on the evidence taken from various archeological digs only one species in the record is based on quad strand DNA."_

"No way," Nov said and he caught on quicker than Sidda did. "The Collectors are Protheans?"

" _At some point, they were."_ She said. _"I am detecting extensive genetic modification and rewrite. If this was truly a Prothean it is not anymore."_

This was galaxy shattering to say the least. "We need to collect as much data as we can. Mordin should see this," Thane said. If they could find the central computer they could have it all.

"Alright, let's get this horror show finished. The central access can't be much further."

They moved on, quietly. All three of them were trying to wrap their heads around the astonishing news they'd just found. In two minutes they rewrote galactic history. Nov found a few consoles and junctions that didn't have much use then the path opened to the full interior of the ship. It was like the inside of a giant drum honey-combed with the pods found all over Horizon.

She gaped and felt a knot tie in her stomach. "Oh. My. God." Pods as far as the eye could see.

Thane was astonished too. There were so many pods…so many that was almost impossible to grasp. "Siha, they could abduct every human in the Terminus and still not have enough to fill those pods."

"They're going after Earth," Nov deduced and then the form of address that Thane used hit him. He didn't say Sidda he said 'siha' whatever that meant. "Wait a minute what'd you call her?"

"Siha," Thane answered.

"Her name is Sidda."

Sidda shook her head. "Siha: the warrior angels of the goddess Arashu," Sidda clarified. "Right, Thane?"

The Drell gave the single nod. "Very good, Commander."

Nov didn't like that at all. "He did…you hav…he gave you a pet name?" Turians were territorial. Very territorial and Nov didn't like the idea that Sidda had a pet name. Clearly she had a bond with the Drell and he didn't like that either.

"Cal, it's harmless, not now," Sidda told him.

Nov was glaring at Thane through is helmet and Thane was glowering back. Sidda didn't need to see their faces to know they were glaring at each other.

" _Commander, how's it going over there?"_ Joker asked over the comm.

"Glares, glowers, and pet names," she muttered referring to the behavior of the boys.

" _Uhh…what?"_ Joker asked.

"Nothing. What do you have?" she said and moved forward.

" _On a hunch I had EDI run some scans on the Collector ship against the database."_ Joker told her.

"And?"

" _Not only is it the same vessel from Horizon but it's a match to the one that attacked and destroyed the Normandy two years ago."_ EDI simplified.

Sidda paused mid-step. "The same ship dogging me for two years? I don't like the sound of that."

"No way that's a coincidence," Nov added.

"Let's just get it done and get the hell out of here."

" _I don't like this, Commander, watch your back."_ Joker added.

"Isla," Sidda began as they kept walking with the boys glaring at each other behind her, "how's it going on your front?"

" _All quiet. Too quiet. A ship like this should hold thousands…Kodiak sensors aren't picking up anything."_ She replied promptly. Isla remained in the Kodiak but had her shotgun ready.

"By far the creepiest place I've ever been," Nov muttered.

"This has got nothing on the Thorian," Sidda responded and shuddered at the thought of it. "Isla, sit tight…we'll be along directly."

Nov scoffed. "Screaming."

* * *

When they found the uplink node they still hadn't encountered even the slightest bit of resistance and aside from the Prothean in the lab the only bodies they'd found with the pile of human carcass' near the door.

"EDI, I'm setting up the link. Grab what you can and do it fast before the Collectors come to salvage this vessel," Sidda ordered. The longer they were there the more uneasy they all got. Sidda had never seen Thane nervous and she figured that if the assassin had the wiggins it wasn't a good sign. As soon as EDI uplinked and started to mine the system all hell broke loose. It was fairly obvious from the get go that this was a trap. The platform stopped spinning with a slam that knocked Thane off his feet and Sidda into one the uplink console.

"EDI?" Sidda questioned as Nov grabbed Thane's hand and pulled him to his feet.

" _Attempting to reestablish the connection."_

Nov spotted a platform spinning its way in and imagined that it didn't carry the greeting party. "Make it quick. Sid, we have incoming."

"Yeah, I see it," She said and found that the best place to take cover was right where the uplink was. "Thane, can you pick them off?"

The Drell nodded and traded his Tempest for the Viper. He didn't say much and Nov had to admit he respected him…but he still glared at him.

"EDI," Sidda began as Thane started to pick the Collector soldiers off one by one, "fast is better. Isla, I think this joint just woke up keep your eyes open."

The firefight was one the most intense that any of them had been in a very long time. After a few minutes and three waves of bad guys everything went oddly quiet. Three of them did a very good job together. They stayed in cover, used abilities and powers, and conserved ammo. It occurred to Nov that Thane may just rival Maridus or Garrus as a sniper, the Drell never panicked…not once in that entire fight.

"What the fuck was that?" Nov demanded as he voiced what they had been thinking. They uplinked to EDI and then it all went to hell.

"EDI?"

" _I have reestablished the link and regained control of the platform."_ The AI replied. _"I have also found data to help us navigate the Omega 4 Relay. Additionally, I found the Turian signal that served as the lure for this trap. It is most unusual."_

"How so?" Sidda asked as she checked her rifle and pistol.

" _Turian emergency channels have secondary encryption. It is present but corrupted in the message."_

"That's impossible if it's genuine," Nov chimed in as he reloaded his weapons. "Told you this was a trap."

" _Spectre Nov is correct; it is not possible that the Illusive Man would believe the message was authentic. I found the anomaly using Cerberus detection protocols, written by the Illusive Man."_

Sidda leaned forward onto the console and swore. She shook her head and couldn't believe she could be so damn naïve. "That mother fucker set me up," she snarled angry with herself and her life right about now. "Again."

" _Commander, I know you're having a bad day and all but that ship is powering up."_ Joker informed. _"You need to leave before the weapons come online and, you know, blow the Normandy in half."_

"Alright, people, double time it back to the Kodiak," Sidda ordered and they moved quickly off the platform. "Isla, did you get all that?"

" _That working for Cerberus will get you killed? Yes, I got all that."_

"Says the Blue Suns defector," Nov muttered and Sidda could hear the smirk over the comm.

" _Why do you think I 'defected'? At least when I resigned I took a chunk of them with me. Any time you want me to show you just what I can do you just let me know."_ She replied and Nov chuckled. Now he was just trying to get a rise out of her.

"Would you two like a room?" Sidda asked.

"Why, you got something in mind?" both Nov and Isla said at the same time. They were starting to get along…sort of.

" _I'm still where you left me."_ Isla said. _"I'll cover you as best I can."_

Getting off the Collector ship was intense. The Praetorian was the hardest thing to beat, the room they were in was awkward and Garrus' sniper rifle was sorely absent. The Viper just didn't have the punch that Garrus' had. The heavy weapon that Sidda brought wasn't the greatest against it but the Ark Projector did well enough allowing Nov and Thane could bring it down. Nov's grenades were also handy against floods of Collectors and Sidda's shockwave was invaluable against the onslaught of husks. As they got closer to the Kodiak they found a cluster of husks occupied by Isla. The Sentinel detonated her tech armor and the mindless drones were flattened in one spectacular display.

"Alright…," Nov began as they sprinted to the Kodiak, "you're impressive."

"Glad you approve."

"Let's go. I am not losing another ship," Sidda ordered.

* * *

The _Normandy_ jumped away from the Collector cruiser but that didn't mean all was quiet onboard. Sidda's conversation with the Illusive Man was not a long one…in fact it was very short but she came out fuming.

"You know I'm getting a little tired of being shot at because of Cerberus," Nov commented as Sidda left the comm room looking supremely pissed.

"Yeah? Try being me." She snapped back. "The man spends enough credits to buy a fleet on me and then tries to get me killed every time I turn around."

"Why don't you just take the _Normandy,_ kick the Cerberus crew off and go?"

Nov had a valid point, one that she, Joker, Tali, and Garrus all talked over at some point. "Because I need Cerberus' resources, Cal, the Alliance won't help me and neither will the Council."

"Sidda-…"

She growled in annoyance. Not necessarily at him but at the fact she was in clear danger without a choice to get away from it. "Cal, I'm sorry that you got stuck in the middle of that but I-…"

"I don't care about myself but I do care about you. Last thing I want is you..." he trailed off as he couldn't bring himself to complete the thought of her being hurt or worse again. "Sidda. I don't like this."

There was nothing she could do about it and she understood his worry. "I don't like it either but such as life." Her reply was clipped and a little rude but Nov took it knowing she was just mad.

"Sid."

"What do you want me to do? There's nothing I can do except trying to survive the meat grinder he keeps tossing me in." This was turning into a fight and she didn't want to fight with him so she just walked away.

Nov grumbled as she walked away from him and he shook his head. "No wonder Victus was always irritated."

"I heard that," she called back over her shoulder.


	10. Chapter 10: Reprisals and Recompense

_**Note: I apologize. I got stuck on page 8 for forever. Anywho, thank you very much for the reviews. AlienSinger: its a bit later than I has intended but hopefully this helps. :) Thank you also for the favorites and follows as well.**_

 _ **Please enjoy Chapter 10: Reprisals and Recompense**_

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Chapter Ten: Reprisals and Recompense**

By the time Sidda was done in the Terminus there would be nothing left of the Blue Suns, Isla seemed to have a direct line on their bullshit and every time they turned around they were landing on a cell of the mercenary band with both feet. This time it was a freighter called the _Strontium Mule_ , it had been carrying artifacts from a dig site. The Blue Suns killed everyone on board while Isla and Zaeed returned the favor.

Zaeed was still at odds with Sidda but he'd cooled it some lately, however, Sidda knew that it was only a matter of time before it became a problem.

"So how long is it before I exterminate all of the Blue Suns?" Sidda joked after she'd been summoned to the comm room by Isla.

Isla chuckled. "You have a ways to go for that."

"You don't mind wiping out your previous employer?"

Isla shook her head and tapped a few things on the control panel. "No, not really, they're not all bad but most are."

"Right now the only one I'm worried about is the one on this ship, and I'm not talking about you," she said as Garrus joined them. Isla shrugged away Sidda's issues with Zaeed.

"Well, he's going to be angry for a while," she said as Zaeed silently joined them too, folding his arms across his chest and leaning grumpily against the wall. "That was the closest he'd ever been to exacting his revenge and Vido got away."

Zaeed scowled, his body language told them he was annoyed and didn't like being talked about. "Moving on."

Isla had something he was going to love. "But the good news is that I was able to narrow Vido's location to the Terminus."

Zaeed's scowl softened slightly but Garrus was pretty sure he wouldn't call that 'good news'. "Congratulations to us," he scoffed with a chuckle and obvious sarcasm.

"Yeah, I'm with Garrus, I wouldn't call that good news," Sidda added.

"As opposed to the entire galaxy?" Isla countered with a smile.

"When she makes a point she makes a point," Joker chuckled.

Isla had combed through the data from the freighter and found some promising leads. "I called in markers and old debts, four possible places Vido could be all are bases or outposts," she said and tapped the console. The hologram showed them the Terminus with various systems highlighted.

Four seemed like a small number but too many for them to hit quickly. "Where do you think he is?"

She didn't hesitate. "Joab or Sanctum. They're the biggest most secure." She said and the various highlighted systems dropped down to two.

Sidda had to make this right with Zaeed because if she didn't it would come back to bite her. "Whichever one you want to start with first," Sidda added, "you know him and you know the bases."

"I think we should hit both at the same time," she replied. "If we hit the wrong one first and word filters back, Vido will be long gone before we can find him again."

"I agree," Zaeed added in a low growl. He had been as anti-social to Sidda and the majority of the crew as he ever had been. The only one who was immune to his attitude was Isla, and even then, it was iffy.

"As do I," Sidda replied with a pointed look to Zaeed. They were still at odds but she'd made it very clear he needed to keep himself under control. "Are you sure that he's at one of these two?"

"He's scared," Zaeed chimed in. "Vido's a coward, he runs and hides behind his men."

"Which means the two strongest bases in the Terminus besides Omega," Isla added and Sidda looked to Garrus who gave her a simple nod. The silent agreement.

"Okay. Isla, pick a team and take the Kodiak and hit one I'll take the _Normandy_ and hit the other."

The mercenary nodded. "I'll take Joab, you take Sanctum."

* * *

Isla picked Joab because she was more familiar with it. It was a Prothean dig site run by ExoGeni…as corrupt as it came. The Blue Suns made it a base and a very lucrative protection gig. Realistically, Vido could have been at Sanctum as well but there was no 'entertainment' at Sanctum's base…there was a lot more fun to be had on Joab. That is where she bet he would be. With Garrus and Zaeed as her team, gaining entry wasn't too difficult. Zaeed was more familiar with Sanctum and did question Isla's choice of coming here. When it came down to it he deferred to her, she knew him better than he did.

The infiltration of the base wasn't silent, Garrus and Zaeed did make short work of the guards before someone hit the alarm and all hell broke loose. The three-man team was highly effective until Zaeed took a hit to the shoulder, knocking him back.

The pain that coursed through her head she recognized immediately. The familiar incapacitating pain of Neural Shock, the field hit Zaeed too and they both went down. The instant migraine caused ringing in her ears and she collapsed to the ground on her back. Feet appeared in front of her, Turian feet, clad in blue and black armor. She managed to look up at the tall figure and blinked. "Oh no," she muttered.

"Nice to see you again, Isla," Kuril smirked standing over her with his favorite Revenant casually resting on his right shoulder. To be frank, her arrival was a very bad thing.

Nobody stayed conscious with a heavy dose of Neural Shock; it was a very versatile power: dialed up to maximum it could even kill a Krogan, but kept at mid-range, it was very useful for capture. It wasn't the first time Isla, Zaeed, or Garrus, has been hit by it.

Isla woke with a groan. Her neck hurt, her head hurt, her shoulders hurt. Mostly it was how she was sitting, hands bound behind her back and slumped forward. "Fucking Neural Shock…," she groaned.

"Oh yeah," Zaeed agreed from her right. The old Merc was the first one awake, "still has a nice zing to it."

"Somehow I thought you were smarter than this," Kuril chided. "You tore up half of Omega, destroyed my ship, and you're stupid enough to come to Joab?"

Her head was throbbing from one temple to the other. It would pass soon but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. "Nice to see you too, Kuril," she replied casually. "Talk about me being here, what the hell are you doing here? You hate this place."

"Oh, I'd happily be on my ship right now but your little IT tinkering saw that'd never happen," he growled. "Do you have any idea how many men I lost trying to contain that mess? Or for that matter how many prisoners escaped?"

"Oh, you're breaking our hearts," Garrus said derisively. He was finally awake.

Kuril looked to the other Turian. He wasn't familiar with him but he knew her other companion by reputation. "Zaeed Massani and I'm not sure who you are."

"Entertainment," Garrus fired back.

"Given the fact that half your face has been blown off and that Omega vigilante was a Turian I'm gonna say you're Archangel," he deduced but Garrus didn't take his eyes away. Kuril shook his head, Zaeed he could care less about. He was a legend but Kuril cared more about Isla. "You should never have come here."

Isla eyed him; he wouldn't be this uncomfortable if something wasn't wrong. "He's here isn't he?"

Kuril didn't answer and walked away from her to the console. That was more than enough of an answer for her and she looked to her left toward Garrus.

"We need to get out of here," Isla said quietly and Garrus looked over at her.

"Really? What a good idea." The sarcasm in his voice was enough to make her want to punch him.

She gave a slight eye roll. "Omni cuffs…got any bright ideas?"

"I'm working on it," Garrus muttered. "They'd be pretty stupid to leave me with my Omni-tool.

"Zaeed, you alright?"

"I've had worse," the old Merc answered, a little bug bite to his shoulder wouldn't slow him down.

"Isla Devereaux," a familiar voice grated and Isla cringed, "and Zaeed Massani…you survived Zorya…how nice."

"Vido," Isla feigned a convincing smile, "how's life on the run, Big Shot?"

He slapped her hard across the face. Garrus' mandibles ticked when she took the hit but he noticed Kuril flinch when Vido slapped her. Maybe he did care about her, a potential ally against Vido. "Was that necessary?" Zaeed asked.

Vido turned his attention to Zaeed. "I'm gonna unload so much ordinance in you I'll make sure you stay dead this time. You, I'll turn over to the Shadow Broker," he pointed to Garrus and then looked back to Isla. "but you…I'm gonna take my time with you. You betrayed me, Bitch," he snarled and punched her again.

"You always did hit like a pussy," Isla said and glared up at him.

"Ahh, yeah, can't crack the interrogator. You never did break, no matter what I did to you."

That made Garrus growl and Kuril's mandibles clicked.

"Don't touch her again," Zaeed warned and Vido looked over to him, he succeeded in getting his attention and Vido punched him.

"Or what, Massani?" he taunted.

"Or it'll be Dealer's choice to see which one of us kills you first." Garrus happily informed. With every hit Garrus watched Kuril twitch. With every crude comment toward Isla his mandibles clicked. Kuril was a rapidly growing ally.

Vido laughed. "I don't think so…but you boys get to have a little entertainment…," he cackled with a sickening grin and grabbed Isla by the hair yanking her head back, "if you thought I was hard on you before…you cost me _millions_ in one fucking day. I swear you'll be begging me to sto-…" he didn't finish his sentence as a single shot rang out. Zaeed and Isla were then splattered with something warm and sticky, brain matter and blood.

"Despicable Human," Kuril growled quietly as he lowered his pistol. "Any male that has to force himself on a female deserves what they get," he muttered and approached Isla, activating his Omni-tool to release the cuffs.

When the cuffs were released he found himself in a fight with the other Turian. Kuril was taller but Garrus was a little more nimble and had the mercenary on his back in no time. Kuril hit the ground with a painful crack as his armor carapace cracked the flooring. He snarled as Garrus managed to take his pistol and planted his right foot on his neck.

"Garrus, don't kill him!" Isla barked and Garrus growled his annoyance.

"Isla, enough!" he snapped back. "You thought you could trust him on _Purgatory_ and he nearly killed you."

"But he saved me just now," she rebutted as Zaeed, injured or not, collected weapons and paused a moment over Vido's body. His nemesis was dead…his only regret was that he didn't get to pull the trigger.

"Why'd you help?" Garrus demanded and pointed the pistol at his face.

"I didn't do it for you," Kuril forced out past the giant foot applying just enough pressure to his throat. "I did it for her."

Not good enough and the cop in Garrus took over. "You tried to kill her on _Purgatory_ , you captured us…why help now?"

"She lied to me on _Purgatory_. Could have killed me but she didn't. I repaid the debt," he answered honestly. "Kill me if you want but you don't want to know what Vido would have done to her."

"Can you get us out of here?" she asked and Kuril tried to nod but failed when Garrus' foot prevented it.

"Preferably with his base a smoking crater on the way out," Zaeed put in while applying medigel to his wound.

"I can set the base to self-destruct and clear a path to your shuttle," he told them and it was good enough for Isla but not for Garrus and Zaeed.

"Let him go," she said to Garrus. He may have done the right thing but he tried to kill her before or blackmail her. Garrus didn't move and contemplated shooting him instead. "Garrus, let him go, now."

He let him up…this was going to bite them in the ass…he just knew it. Kuril got to his feet quickly and growled at Garrus. The Turians stood inches from each other threatening to fight again. "That's the only one you get." Kuril warned and Garrus didn't flinch.

He didn't trust him and didn't back down. "I'll snap your neck next time. That's a promise."

"Boys," Isla warned. "Kuril, where to?"

"Come on," he replied and opened the door gesturing to the table piled with their equipment. "Get your gear."

The other door at the far end opened as Kuril watched the rest collect their weapons and equipment. "Kuril," a male voice barked as the Blue Suns Captain put together what he was seeing.

"Locke!" Kuril barked in return and they both shot at each other. Kuril grunted as the second shot from Locke penetrated his armor and bit into his body but his second shot took Locke's head off at the nose. Kuril staggered back into the wall and cursed.

"Yeah, okay…someone heard that," Garrus announced and shouldered his sniper rifle in favor of the Mattock. "Time to be useful, Warden."

"Kuril, you're hit," Isla said and the Turian brushed it off.

"I'm fine," he bit back. The typical Turian response but the wound hurt more than it should. Locke used specialized ammo…outlawed polonioum rounds. He was going to feel like crap for the next few days. "Landing pad. Your shuttle is still in the same place," he said to Isla. "Give me two minutes and go."

"I don't trust him," Garrus said when the Warden headed out. They could hear commotion as the rest of the base was trying to figure out the gunshot they'd heard. The first one coming from where the prisoners were could be chalked up to Vido being Vido…the second ones were definitely a brief gunfight.

Zaeed agreed, the boys locked eyes for a moment and in that second some extra sensory perception occurred and they were on the same page even if Isla wasn't.

"Alright, that's two minutes," Garrus said sharply. He didn't like this at all.

"I don't hear anything," Zaeed added. "100 credits say that jackass betrayed us."

Isla rolled her eyes. "Will you two shut up and lets go?" she scolded and was the first one through the door.

The base wasn't clear, they did need to fight their way out but there was still no sign of Kuril. Whatever he was doing it did seem like Garrus and Zaeed were right. "Where the hell is Kuril?" Isla questioned as they moved toward the exit.

Zaeed dropped a mercenary with a precise shot and kept moving. "I don't like this," he said as they kept walking. Isla knew the base and was able to lead them out from where they were. The resistance was minor but enough to make them wary of what was happening.

To be truthful, Isla felt the same. "Yeah…I'm getting that."

They didn't need to hack any locks or navigate security which was something Isla found odd. Most of the time this place was as tight as a drum. One of the consoles indicated a 'Command Bypass', her brows knitted together for a moment before understanding why she hadn't seen Kuril. He'd bypassed the system to let them out. The landing pad was clear…none of them liked that. She unlocked the shuttle with the passcode from her Omni-tool and was surprised when Kuril appeared from around the front of it.

"Hey, what happened to the big boom?" Isla asked.

Kuril did as he said he would but now he wanted more. "Change in plans…you stay here."

Garrus and Zaeed scoffed loudly. "I don't think so." said Garrus.

She groaned, it was _Purgatory_ all over again. This man always wanted more than what he had. His greed was his major flaw. "Kuril, don't do this." Isla pleaded.

"Do what? You betrayed us first. I killed him because he deserved it and the rest of the base would have killed me," he said and pointed his pistol at Garrus who was getting too close for comfort.

"I'm not kidding, Kuril," she said again this time in a sharper tone but he kept his gun trained on Garrus.

"That's my price. You leave, she stays," he ordered. Isla waved Zaeed off with her other hand but he ignored it.

"Don't make me do it, Kuril," she begged aiming her pistol at him. "Please, don't."

A shot rang out and she saw blood splatter across the side of the Kodiak. Kuril fell with a gunshot in his head. Isla was shocked and horrified. For better or worse he was always there to help her. "What the hell did you do!" she shouted to Zaeed.

"Sorry, Sweetheart," Zaeed replied. "You hesitated."

She thought about killing him, honestly thought about killing Zaeed Massani, the man who taught her all she knew over Kuril. "Come on." She heard Garrus say. "We gotta go."

* * *

The shuttle ride back to the _Normandy_ was a silent one, the mission was productive and, in the end, the objective was accomplished. Zaeed has his revenge even if it wasn't he that pulled the trigger. Kuril did him a favor. Garrus sat in the co-pilot's seat even though Isla wouldn't talk to him either. He didn't pretend to know the relationship that she'd had with Kuril but it was clear it was toxic. He was glad the merc was dead but what at what cost.

"How'd your end go?" Garrus asked as he saw Sidda waiting on the flight deck.

"Well, you know, Mercs, mechs, bad guys, bullets, it sucked," she replied and noted the cold demeanor between Zaeed and Isla. "How'd it go on yours?"

"We found Vido. Vido is now dead but none of us killed him," Garrus told her. "One of his own guys…Warden Kuril."

Sidda's expression narrowed. "Okay, you win. What the hell did you guys do out there?"

Zaeed glanced over at the door as someone entered his little haunt. It was Isla and he really wasn't looking forward to this. He wasn't going to say he was wrong for what he did or even apologize for it beyond what he had done after he killed him. Isla was young and the young were always stupid.

"We need to talk," she announced and Zaeed grunted an 'if you say so' response.

His dismissive attitude only made her angrier. "I had it handled, Zaeed."

"No, you didn't," he replied plainly as he worked on Jessie.

"Stop treating me like I'm a child!" she yelled. Isla was mad at everything right now including herself; Kuril for being so damn stupid, herself for not seeing it, and Zaeed for being the only one to have the courage to do what she couldn't.

Zaeed dropped what he was doing. "Then stop acting like one," he snapped back harshly, stalking toward her until she backed into the wall. "You're smarter than that. I didn't teach you to get your head blown off or to be taken as payment for a job. Kuril tried to kill you then he tried to keep you as payment. Stop acting like a school girl thinking with her cunt and I'll stop treating you like a child."

Isla thought about yelling back at him but changed her mind. When she was a kid that didn't work very well as she always got in trouble for it. Zaeed had effectively raised her and she closed her mouth to any kind of response.

Zaeed rarely showed much emotion beyond anger but she could see in his eyes that he only ever wanted to protect her. He wasn't there to stop Vido's brutality but he was there to stop her from making a repeated mistake. He put his right hand on her cheek and returned to what he was doing. In his mind, it was all finished.

She left, there was nothing more to be said to the Merc, and found Garrus on his back in the main battery under a console. "Are you ever going to be finished tweaking that damn thing?" she asked.

"Nope," he replied. "I don't do well idle. I need to keep busy."

"Is that why you united all the bad guys against you, idle hands?" she teased and Garrus laughed.

"Maybe," he replied with a chuckle. "You wanna come down here and join me?"

Isla didn't need a second invitation and laid down next to him. He was better at tech than she was but Garrus merely wanted the girl he liked next to him. "Sorry I dragged you into that."

"Dragged me into what?" he asked.

"That mess with me and Kuril," she said. "You were right, Kuril may have saved me but he had his own agenda for doing it."

"Yep," he replied and kept working on the console.

"I'm sorry. You and Zaeed were right," she apologized and Garrus stopped what he was doing and looked over at her.

"You know, all that time on Omega when you were passing info to me and driving me crazy you _never_ admitted that I was right," he teased and she rolled her eyes. "That's what I call progress."

"God, if I'd have known you were this insufferable I'd have killed you in the warehouse when I had the chance," she chuckled. "You going to be done with this console sometime soon or are you going to recalibrate the entire ship?"

"What brought on this feistiness?" he asked and she giggled.

"I liked watching you fight," she said with a shrug.

"Turian females like watching their males fight too," he said. "And they like to fight them too. I remember a mission we were preparing for, Batarian Slavers, high risk, and before we'd gone in I'd been competing with this recon specialist so we'd decided to settle it on the sparring mat."

"I'm assuming by the way I've seen you fight you let her down gently," she said and Garrus scoffed while tapping a few things on his omni-tool.

"Uhh…well, actually she and I were the top rated hands on the ship. I had reach but she had the flexibility, after nine rounds the judge finally called it a draw." The console beeped and he flicked it with his finger. It beeped again and the lights flickered. Garrus made a face at it but kept working.

"A draw? Then what?"

"We held a tie-breaker in her quarters," he answered and Isla grinned. "I had the reach but she definitely had the flexibility."

"Do I have to spar with you to learn about your reach?" she asked but the undertone was enough to make him stop working.

"Uhh…no," he answered carefully. He wasn't exactly sure how to proceed in a way that was appropriate. He knew what he'd do with a Turian female but not with a Human one. From what he'd observed from other Human and Turian couples it wasn't too much different. He got flustered but the blip of the console he was working on distracted him from looking at her smiling face.

* * *

The next stop after Joab was back to the Citadel to lend a hand to Thane. The assassin was not as she had expected, ever, and Nov was right to be a little jealous since she had developed a strong bond with the Drell. It wasn't like Nov thought, however, their relationship wasn't romantic but it could be if they both wanted it. Thane asked for her help and she gladly gave it. It was also a good time for the _Normandy_ to resupply and everyone to take some shore leave. Sidda and Thane made a very good team but she found an entire new depth to the Drell, his life was pain and sadness and now he was terminally ill. She couldn't imagine what it was like to know you were going to die and trying to atone for the things you'd done before you die. Thane was by far the strongest person she'd ever known.

She tapped through some reports and files on her monitor until there was a chime at the door. "Enter," she called and the door opened to a rather fidgety looking Garrus. "Hey, Garrus, what brings you up here?"

"I had a question to ask you," he replied. "Sid…this is awkward…umm."

Sidda blinked a few times and put the monitor to sleep as she stood up from the desk. "You need a drink before you strain something?"

Garrus glared. "Shut up." He figured it was best to just pull the pin. "How do you mate with a Turian?" he blurted and closed his eyes. _"Shouldn't have pulled the pin like that,"_ he thought.

Sidda's expression was the best, even if he had gone about it with wrong way, her expression was worth it. "Shouldn't you know how to do that, Garrus?"

" _Why couldn't this be painless?"_ he thought to himself."I mean you. How do you do it?" That was worse.

"Didn't know you were interested in me like that Garrus," she snickered and winked. Garrus became even more flustered. She decided right then that teasing Garrus should be a national pastime.

He growled in annoyance. "Will you stop it, Sid," he snarled. "I mean Humans and Turians, how does it work?"

Sidda's giggling was annoying him but he was smart enough to realize that she was teasing the hell out of him. "You and Isla?"

"No. You and me," he snapped back sarcastically. "I…I've never…we've never…" he didn't finish the sentence and Sidda found his shy awkwardness completely adorable.

"I get it," she smiled and stopped him allowing him to compose himself. "You want to sit down?"

He'd rather stand and fidget. "I don't think that'd be a good idea."

She chuckled as well. "So, you've never had…," she paused trying to find a gentle way to put this, "relations with an alien?"

Garrus wasn't sure why he felt embarrassed about that but he did. Contrary to Sidda's belief he'd never slept with Leena or anyone else other than a Turian. He shook his head. "No, and I was almost afraid to put that search into the extranet."

Sidda laughed. "Yeah…I can imagine. You want my advice, she's the experienced one, let her lead."

"That's it? That's all you got for me?"

She chuckled. "I'm not going to go into graphic detail for you, Vakarian, for the most part, the parts are all the same so just let her lead since she's done it before. If you want more than that you can always talk to Mordin…I'm sure he'll be happy to give you the sex talk too."

"The what?" he asked and she waved him off.

"Nevermind. One embarrassing dose of that was quite enough," she said. "I do suggest the shower though." Garrus' head cocked to the left, puzzled. "Softens the plates."

Garrus cringed. "On that note I'm leaving." He'd reached his quota of uncomfortable and embarrassing conversations for the day.

He turned to leave but stopped when she spoke up. "Just so you know, we'll be at the Citadel for a day or two. Might be a good time to enjoy yourself."

Garrus nodded and left. The _Normandy_ didn't have much in the way of privacy, Sidda's quarters were the most private on the ship everyone else either crashed in a closet or hot bunked.

* * *

Isla arrived at the hotel suite that Garrus had instructed her to come to and looked around. It was enormous and had a nice view of the nebula. "Garrus?" she called and then wandered for a few feet.

Garrus appeared from around the corner with a bottle of something in his hand. "You came," he said and wished that he would actually think before he spoke. Lately he'd been really bad about that.

She gave him an odd look. "Of course I came." She dropped the bag she'd brought on the floor.

Her tone made him blush. "I uhhh…you want a drink?" he asked trying to get over his nerves. He faced down three merc bands trying to kill him and was more nervous now than he'd ever been in his life.

"Sure," she said and he poured her a drink as she looked out the window. "A welcome change from the _Normandy_ ," she commented. "Little more breathing room."

"My thoughts exactly," Garrus said appearing next to her with a glass of Vodka for her and Turian Brandy for himself.

"Garrus Vakarian, did you bring me here to play?" she teased and Garrus purred.

"I might have," he replied as she grinned.

"Good," she winked.

* * *

Helping Thane revealed some interesting things about the Drell, his life hadn't been easy, she knew, but what she'd witnessed was downright painful. Sidda'd returned to the _Normandy_ briefly after receiving an urgent message from The Illusive Man. Whenever he called it was always half-truths and bullshit but she went anyway.

The door to Nov's apartment chimed and he answered it expecting Sidda…instead he got Thane. He bristled immediately. No matter what Sidda said he was a definite threat to him.

"Well, you're not Sidda," Nov said. "What can I do for you?"

Thane wasn't one to engage in the territorial behavior. He was dying and even if he wanted Sidda for the short time he had left he wouldn't dream of putting her through that. She loved Nov and he loved her back. "I was expecting Commander Shepard to be here."

"She had to duck back to the _Normandy,_ " he replied and let him in, trying to be hospitable. "What do you need?"

Nov's tone was unmistakable though he tried to mask it with politeness. "I wished to thank her for her help."

"You're spending a lot of time with her," Nov said in his passive aggressive tone.

Thane was patient and wasn't baited easily but he was still irritated just like everyone else. "She has told you and now I will tell you: you have nothing to worry about. She is a friend."

"Better stay that way. She's not yours, do you understand?" he warned.

Thane cocked his head slightly, this Turian was getting on his nerves but he didn't want to give him any more reason to distrust him. If he engaged in this he'd be proving otherwise. "I didn't realize she was property."

Nov angered and it was reflected in his face, Thane's words were true but he still wanted to snap at him. Or snap his neck and his problem was solved. "I'll tell her you stopped by," he said finally after weighing the pros and cons for everything he was thinking.

Thane gave him a nod and turned to walk away. "You might try trusting her instead of acting like a child," he advised and left Nov ready to kill someone. Thane was right…he hated it when others were right.

Thane got back to the _Normandy_ and bumped into Sidda. After thanking her he did inform her of his encounter with Nov, and while Thane didn't blow the conversation out of proportion, Sidda got the gist of it and she didn't like it. Nov, like all other Turians, had a hard head.

"Hey," Nov greeted as he saw her come in. "Just in time. Food just arrived." He didn't notice her demeanor as she approached and probably really should have.

Sometimes you had to just hit a Turian to get the point across…and hit him she did. Turian weren't wired the same way Human men were; Turian's were possessive, territorial, and aggressive. Nov was apparently no different. She gave her all with a right hook to make sure Nov felt it.

"I told you to leave Thane alone," Sidda snapped. "I do not respond well to jealously."

Nov heard her barking in his ear loud and clear and worked his jaw. "Oww!" he said with a growl. "Damn, Victus really taught you how to hit."

His cavalier attitude angered her. "Actually, that was Cerrus. Do you want me to hit you again to make sure it sticks?"

He really didn't want her to. That was a very solid hit. "Alright. Alright. I get it," he conceded. "I'm sorry. I'll leave him be."

"I mean it, Cal," she gritted out.

"I got it."

Sidda cocked her head noticing that she actually drew blood with her hit. "You know, for a Turian, you bleed easy."

He looked down at her trying to hide his amusement. He'd been slugged by females before but not by ones he was head over heels in love with. It just made him want Sidda that much more. "You wanna hit me again, Baby?" he purred. "I like my females feisty."

"Don't piss me off, Casanova," she replied and he growled going straight for biting her neck.

"Or what?" he purred and they crashed over onto the couch breaking whatever was on the coffee table when Sidda's foot hit it. They began laughing as she pushed up off his chest. Nov really had nothing to worry about…there was only one man in the galaxy that could turn her from him and he didn't want her anymore.


	11. Chapter 11: Exile

_**Note: I've been itching to post this one for a while I just had to get there first. I'm very proud of this chapter here so I do hope you all enjoy it.**_

 _ **Thank you for all the favorites and follows and for all the reviews. It really does mean a lot. I know several have asked where Victus is...well...wonder no more.**_

 ** _Please enjoy Chapter Eleven: Exile_**

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Chapter Eleven: Exile**

Garrus remembered why he didn't spar with Nov; he was damn good but no one, not even Nov, was perfect. The Spectre hit the mat hard on his back with a loud grunt. Nov groaned loudly as the pain spread across his carapace and shoulders. "Oh, I forgot you were good," he managed out, voice a bit strangled.

Garrus allowed a smile and reached down to help him up. "With you spending all your available time here don't the Spectres miss you?"

"I'd be an idiot if I thought that they didn't know where I was at," he replied.

"And they don't care that you're messing around with someone even the Council – their boss – won't help?" Garrus inquired.

"I'm not going to let her do any of this alone," he answered and Garrus accepted his answer. He'd known Nov for a long time but was never close to him. Nov got on his nerves most of the time but right now he saw that he deeply cared for Sidda and would do anything for her no matter the cost. "The Spectres and the Council can fire me if they don't like it."

"Well, it's good to know you're committed," he said and caught movement from the door.

"We're about 2 hours from the Hawking Eta system," Sidda told them. "Just came down here to watch the show."

"You want to spar, little girl?" Nov smirked. "Doubt you've gotten much practice out of him," he added and lightly punched Garrus' arm.

"Good enough to put you on your back," Garrus retorted.

"Oh that's not hard to do, I've had him on his back many times," she said Nov gave her a nearly abashed expression. His amusement won out in the end and Garrus groaned.

"Oh, Sidda, you just had to go there."

"I was referring to sparring. You two turned it dirty." She was, of course, lying. She meant to put the sexual undertone there, she was playing the innocent.

Sidda's Omni-tool beeped and she tapped it quickly. _"Shepard, could I speak to you please. It's urgent."_ Tali asked and her tone reflected the urgency.

"Yeah," she replied into the comm. "I'm on my way."

* * *

The chat with Tali was indeed urgent; she had been accused of betraying the Migrant Fleet and endangering it. She faced the charge of treason and a penalty of exile. The worst thing a Quarian could experience.

Sidda tabled the trip to the derelict Reaper to help Tali and she could hear The Illusive Man and Miranda bitching about it now. "Joker, prepare to change course," Sidda ordered as she stepped into the CIC scratching her head.

" _What?"_ the pilot questioned as did Miranda.

"Change course to where?" Mirada asked in a clipped tone.

"Here are the coordinates for the Migrant Fleet," Tali said and began updating the galaxy map.

"Migrant Fleet? Commander, what is going on?"

"We need to make a detour," she said and the tapped a few things on the Galaxy Map before stepping aside for Tali.

"Commander, we need that IFF for the Omega 4 Relay," Miranda reminded and Sidda knew that.

Sidda nodded, they really did need that, they didn't need to jet off and solve the problems of the Terminus now that they had a lead. "Yes, I know that."

"Then why are we chasing after the Quarian Fleet?"

She sighed heavily. "Because Tali asked me for help," Tali had her back through thick and thin…time to repay part of that debt.

"Comm-…" Miranda began to protest before Sidda help up a hand.

"Miranda," she began with the beginnings of an aggravated tone, "it's a dead Reaper…it's not going anywhere."

" _Uhh…Commander, there's a ship coming in. Bearing straight for us."_ Joker said and Sidda hung her head.

"God, now what? Identify."

There was a short pause before he answered. _"Squawking ident; Turian Frigate, it's the Lante."_

The look on Sidda's face said it all. Everyone on that ship she was looking forward to seeing again…except one. The important one. She looked at Tali with a raised eyebrow. "Let me guess…Cerrus?"

Tali fidgeted. "I asked him to come. In the event you couldn't help me," The Quarian replied gently.

"They're hailing, Commander," Miranda told her sounding as grouchy as ever.

She sighed and prepared herself for it. "Put it on," she said and tapped the monitor to the left of the galaxy map. The screen changed to the face of the man she had mixed feelings about seeing again.

" _Commander."_ Victus greeted plainly.

"General," Sidda replied in kind. The iciness between them dropped the temperature in the room a few degrees.

" _Commander, I'm here at the behest of one of my officers. If you would allow us to dock?"_ Victus said and Sidda nodded.

"Granted," she said. "Anything else?"

" _Lante, out."_ He replied and left Sidda to sigh heavily.

"Yeah…that went well."

* * *

Victus was escorted from the airlock to Sidda in the Comm Room, its location was almost the same as on the _SR1_ but the layout of this ship was very different. To get to the Comm Room you had to pass through secured labs, Tech or Weapons…poor planning if you were trying to keep secrets. The _SR2_ was larger and had considerable upgrades, all in all a fine ship. A fine _Cerberus_ ship and that didn't sit well. Palaven Command would be shitting themselves if they knew he was docked with a ship run by Cerberus. The guard posted on either side of the door and it opened to reveal Sidda and…Nov.

"I have a proposition for you, Adrien," Sidda greeted and saw the General's hackles go up when he saw Nov. "Tali's little side quest aside, I have a mission we need to get to and a little help would be greatly appreciated."

"A derelict Reaper, we need to pass through the Omega 4 Relay and need a Reaper IFF so we're not obliterated on the other side," Nov informed quickly as Victus hadn't said anything as of yet.

Victus heard everything that was said but ignored it for now. "What is he doing here?" he asked gesturing to his former officer.

Nov wanted to pick a fight with him. "What you should be doing," Nov baited as Sidda rolled her eyes.

Victus boiled slowly when angered so when he did let loose it was catastrophic. Nov, despite the animosity now, was sufficiently seasoned enough to recognize the look he received from Victus. It was a very dangerous look. "I will not be baited by you. So keep yourself out of my business or I assure you, _Spectre_ , we will settle our differences now," Victus warned with a growl.

Before Nov could launch into his own rebuttal Sidda stepped in. "Cal, give us a minute." His hesitation and body language told Victus all he needed to know. Nov had proven to be a threat after all and that pissed him off.

Nov didn't want to, but in the end, he did as she asked. "You work fast. Clearly you got over me with no problem," Victus said in a clear jab toward her personal association with Nov. He wasn't stupid, he saw the signs, Nov had always been protective of her but there was far more too it now.

"Fuck you," she snapped.

"Not me," he snarled sarcastically and Sidda advanced toward him a few steps. _"Fearless as ever."_ He admired as his jealousy countermanded _everything_.

"One more comment like that and you can get off my ship," she warned.

This…was not going the way he had envisioned. She had moved on so quickly when it took him so long. He was mad, jealous, frustrated, and there was a fair amount of shame and regret. If he'd voiced them at all it may have made things easier but he was just as stubborn as she was, even more so, and he refused to bend to it. "How long did it take? A week? Two? Before you ran straight into his bed."

"Get off my ship," she growled. "Now!"

"You can have Cerrus to help Tali, once that's done he comes back to me and you're on your own," he finished. This was petty and spiteful behavior but every rational thought he had was bull-rushed by his myriad of emotions. He left Sidda, no doubt, seething with anger as his Cerberus guard detail kindly escorted him back to the airlock. He eyed Nov in the CIC talking with a human woman but said nothing to him. He'd kill him one of these days but not today.

* * *

It was definitely best that two warship didn't arrive at the Migrant Fleet so the _Lante_ remained at a set of coordinates. After the spat with Victus, Sidda's conversations with her previous ship went through Maridus. Sidda could understand Victus' behavior, it was typical male behavior, so she filed it away to be dealt with later. Nov, however, didn't know when to quit.

He paced her as she and Cerrus were in armor but unarmed. Sidda trusted Tali and she told them no weapons except knives. "I swear I'll kill that son of a bitch."

"You are going to leave it the fuck alone, Cal, I will handle it," she ordered and he stepped in front of her abruptly.

"Stop talking to me like that. I can be a little jealous, I get that, but don't treat me like I don't have a say in anything," he snarled.

"You did not help in there. You antagonized him more than you already had."

"It is not my job to help the one who left you. You are my concern, not him, not them, _you._ The sooner you understand that the better everything will be. If someone talks to you like he did I _will_ get involved," Nov told her and Sidda realized that he was right. She did tend to order him around, sometimes his stubborn ass deserved it, but she nodded.

"You're right, Cal…I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Commander, any time now," she heard Cerrus bark.

Nov ignored Cerrus but Sidda didn't. "One sec," she called then returned her attention to Nov. "I'm sorry, Cal. Really," she said and rose up on her toes to kiss him. "I'll be back."

Nov was satisfied with that response and purred. "Good hunting."

"We're going over there to talk," she reminded him.

"100 credits says you'll be shooting at something before the end of the day," he responded.

* * *

The Quarian's weren't exactly happy to have a Cerberus tagged ship docking with one of theirs but the _Rayya_ allowed it. Decontamination procedures drug on until no microbes of any kind were left alive on their hard suits.

"Captain Danna," Tali began as she addressed the male in the center of the detail that greeted them. "It is good to see you again."

"I wish it was under better circumstances, Tali'Zorah. Despite it all, welcome home."

"By my order, Captain Shepard, no one from your crew is to set foot on this ship unless escorted and cleared. You are a Cerberus vessel after all."

"Understood," Sidda nodded to the tall Quarian male Tali identified as Captain Kar'Danna. "And technically I'm not even a Commander. I'm no longer Alliance military," she clarified.

"You command the _Normandy_ and are responsible for the lives of the crew; you are a captain and that entitles you to great respect among our people," he explained.

"Thank you, Captain Danna."

"As Tali's commanding officer, your voice will carry weight with the trial."

"What trial, Kar, what is this all about?" Cerrus asked in a stern tone. He'd met Danna before a little over a year ago and hand nothing against him. Tali's father didn't like him but Danna did.

Danna hesitated looking between Cerrus and Tali. "Tali'Zorah has been charged with treason for bringing active Geth back to the Flotilla."

"What? That's insane. I only sent pieces and parts for research," Tali replied, shocked.

"What now?" Sidda asked trying to drive this forward.

"Technically, I'm tasked with placing Tali under arrest so you're confined to the ship until this is all over. The hearing is being held in the Garden Plaza and will begin immediately. Good luck."

Cerrus garnered several strange looks from the crew on the _Rayya_ , Turians weren't uncommon but it was still strange to see them and he'd been on this ship before. They'd met Tali's family…Rael didn't like him at all but Danna and Raan did. They weren't her blood family but they were close. He listened as Raan told them vaguely about what was happening. The _Neema_ , Tali's home ship, were distancing themselves from her by changing her name to vas _Normandy._ Not a good sign and it angered him. Anyone who thought Tali was a traitor needed their head examined. He bristled at the notion that Sidda, as the _Normandy_ captain, was going to be speaking for her. He preferred if they let him do it but he wasn't a Captian and Tali trusted Sidda, he did as well…on some level.

The Quarian ships were generational, gave them a real lived-in look but it couldn't be helped when they didn't have a home of their own to go back to. Cerrus read on Quarian history and listened when Tali talked to him about it. He wanted them to fight and take back their home but on the same hand they didn't exactly have numbers to spare for war.

The Conclave was brought to order and Cerrus had a bad feeling about this, they had left something out and he didn't see Rael with the other Admirals. "Something's wrong, Tali," he warned.

"The accused, Tali'Zorah vas _Normandy_ has come before us with her Captain to defend herself against the charge of treason," Raan intoned formally and the Admiral in the middle already had something to say.

"I object!" Koris exclaimed. "A human has no business taking part in a hearing with such sensitive military matters."

"You stripped her name," Cerrus said quickly drawing everyone's attention, "as Captain of the _Normandy_ , Shepard has the right to attend."

"And who are you to dictate policy to us?" Koris hissed to the Turian.

"I am Tali's mate and I will stand with her even against baseless accusations such as this," Cerrus challenged with venom in his tone.

Raan stopped this before it became about Cerrus challenging Koris. "The Major is correct, Admiral, Shepard must stay. As for the validity of the charges…shall we begin? Captain Sidda Shepard vas _Normandy_ , your crewmember stands accused of treason will you speak for her?"

"It will be my genuine pleasure. I regret that her Captain has apparently been forbidden to speak on her behalf," Sidda stated and that managed to set off an argument between Koris and an Admiral Cerrus recognized, Han'Gerral. Raan managed to rein them all back in and keep it on track and Tali began to explain just what she had been doing. She returned disable pieces of Geth tech back to the fleet for study as he father had ordered.

As she spoke Cerrus observed the Admirals, Gerral he knew…not well but he knew him. He was pro-military and charged with commanding the heavy fleet, the bulk of their military power. He clashed with Zaal'Koris, Cerrus didn't know him but from what he saw he was trying to convict Tali of treason and exile her. The third Admiral was a female and had said nothing so far…she actually looked bored with it all.

"Then explain how the Geth seized the lab ship where your father was working!" Koris ordered and that brought Cerrus from his observations.

"What are you talking about? What happened?" Tali asked while Gerral clearly glowered at Koris for dropping the bomb like that.

"As far as we can tell, Tali, the Geth have taken control of the _Alarei_ and killed all those on board…your father included," Gerral explained in a gentler fashion than Koris less than tactful way.

"Keelah…" Tali said in a tone of fear and sadness as she hung her head.

"If they've seized a ship of yours you have to make sure your fleet is secured," Sidda said and now it was Cerrus' turn to glare at someone and it fell on Sidda. "The _Normandy_ stands ready to render any kind of assistance."

"Shepard, we need to take back the _Alarei_ ," Tali said, something was wrong with all of this. It shouldn't be happening.

"The safest course is to destroy the ship, but if you are looking for an honorable death-…" Koris said before Tali cut him off.

"I'm looking for my father, you Bosh'tet!" Tali shouted back infuriated by Koris' mere existence right now.

This was getting out of hand and the idea of going over there to get to the bottom of this appealed to both Sidda and Cerrus.

"Admiral, may I speak?" Cerrus asked politely but in a tone that could be heard of the noise of the proceedings and the arguing between Koris and Gerral.

"Of course." Raan nodded as the noise died down. "State your name for the record please."

"Tyr Cerrus, Major, Palaven Special Forces," he rattled off quickly. "You want to know the truth of what happened then let us go to that ship and find out. You owe it to Tali and if you really want justice to be served then let us help."

"Admirals, the three of us combine have more experience fighting Geth then anyone in recent memory," Sidda said agreeing with Cerrus' suggestion.

The board agreed and Tali had some serious words for all the Admirals involved as did Cerrus. They were given permission to retrieve weapons from the _Normandy_ but Tali had to stay on the _Rayya_.

* * *

Cerrus' weapons stayed on the _Lante_ so he opened Garrus' locker knowing that they had pretty much the same loadout preferences. Garrus would be miffed if his weapons didn't return but Cerrus had no intention of leaving them behind.

"What is this?" he asked as he handled the Mattock.

"That's a Mattock, you'll love it," Nov said from the door. "I gather it did not go well," he said jovially, watching them load up.

"Well, let's just say I owe you 100 credits," Sidda answered and he laughed. "Major?"

Cerrus did a quick check over the black sniper rifle that was Garrus' baby and nodded. "We're good," he said and collected Tali's weapons and extra gear. He brushed by them and headed back to the airlock.

"Isn't that Garrus' stuff?" Nov asked and Sidda nodded.

"Don't tell him until we get back." She replied.

"Need backup?"

Sidda shook her head, the less people on this the better, though if things got sticky on the lab ship she'd be singing an entirely different tune. "No. We're good. Hold the fort, Baby, we'll be back."

She didn't tell them what they were going to be shooting at but he'd hazard a guess, Geth. "Good hunting," he called after her, repeating the same thing he said before she left.

* * *

They returned to the _Rayya_ and found Tali talking with Kal'Reeger. Sidda remembered Reeger from Haestrom and he looked to be up and well, having healed from his injuries.

"Reeger," Cerrus greeted handing Tali her gear, "nice to see you again."

"You as well, Major," the Quarian Marine replied and shook his hand. "Nice move requesting to retake the lab ship. Hope you find what you need."

"You think I'm innocent?" Tali asked and the Marine nodded.

"Even told the Admirals, that didn't help much as it seems," he said and could see the Admirals impatiently waiting for them to depart. "Good luck over there, Tali."

The _Alarei_ was a mess, dead Quarians littered the halls, the Geth were efficient bastards. There were more Geth then there really should have been.

Cerrus listened to Sidda and Tali bicker over the basic differences but he didn't hold it against Sidda. Tali wanted to help herself but not at the expense of her people or her father. Cerrus even found himself frustrated by it.

They found Rael; he was dead though Tali was convinced that was wrong. "You wouldn't just die like this and -…"

"Tali. Tali," Cerrus said gently and pulled her into his arms around from the body of her father. So far it all pointed to Rael being responsible for all this, networking Geth and losing control over it. He caused his own death and now Tali was on the hook for it. "It's alright."

"Damnit…" she sobbed. "I'm sorry, Shepard."

"Sorry about what? None of this was your fault."

She pushed away from Cerrus and knelt down next to her father. "Maybe he left a message somewhere. Maybe he knew I would come," she said and tapped his Omni-tool. It lit up and began to play the recording. A recording that damned him and Tali, Rael did it all. He activated the Geth and caused the destruction of the _Alarei_. He didn't leave a personal message to her even though he knew he was going to die he just left her instructions on how to fix it.

Cerrus was the last person to talk about family, he lost his father when he was 9, his mother died a few years after Anara died, and all he had left now were his brothers and their families but he hadn't seen them in quite some time. If he couldn't fix his own family's short-comings he'd damn sure try to fix hers.

Tali focused, although she knew she felt the fact that her father was dead. He wasn't warm and cuddly with her and that was a source of pain for her. He always treated her like a soldier, the same way Cerrus' mother treated him and his brothers.

Taking the bridge was an event, the angle was terrible and there was cover in all the wrong places. It was small so the number of Geth and their numbers didn't matter. The Prime was the target but it had protection in rocket troopers, and Hunters, not to mention the standard troops. Cerrus' target was the Prime but was soon swarmed causing Tali to drop her drone to draw them away. Some of them fell for it but not all. He managed to clear the ones attacking him but followed the rule he learned on the Citadel: Don't go hand to hand with a machine.

Sidda had her own problems as the Prime and two hunters had her pinned. "Cerrus!" she shouted and he caught the Ark Projector flying at him. "Take it out!"

He barely heard her over Tali's shotgun barking repeatedly but with Sidda entertaining the majority of the party he let the heavy weapon do its job. The energy released from it arched from one enemy to the other taking out all but the Prime itself. It took a second hit from it to finish it off but it finally fell.

"Oh yeah…" Sidda said from her position on one knee, "that was fun. Tali, kill the uplink…make sure nothing else springs up."

Cerrus grabbed Sidda's arm and helped her to her feet. He could see lots of scraps on her chest piece; she took a few hits from the Prime. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I hate Geth."

Cerrus agreed and handed the Ark Projector back. "I like that."

* * *

While the _Normandy_ was docked Nov poked through the ship. He passed though the armory that had been pillaged by Cerrus, seeing Garrus noticed that his gear was gone, then went into the Tech Lab to fiddle with some stuff. Mordin was there, as usual, working diligently. Mordin was a mystery for him. He was a Salarian with an STG background, which wasn't particularly unusual, but it was things that he had said that made him wonder. He tried working but didn't get far, he was distracted.

"Can I ask you a question, Doctor?" Nov asked politely and the Salarian looked up from his work briefly with an affirming grunt. "You said you worked with a female Cabal. Why?"

"Part of a mission. Joint between STG and the Hierarchy," he replied quickly but Nov had trouble accepting that. Salarians and Turians didn't usually pair off for missions or joint strikes. Turians and Asari were normally the muscle and Salarians were the intel.

"Why? What was the mission?"

Mordin was curious as to why Nov was asking. "Classified mission. Why do you ask?"

"Where?"

"Again, cla-…"

"Doctor, this is important." Nov's tone was an honest one and Mordin's curiosity got the better of him.

"Tuchanka. 2176."

Nov tapped his omni-tool and a holo image appeared. "Was that her?" he asked and let Mordin look at the image. The service record image that those close to Cerrus usually had saved on their omni-tool…just in case.

Mordin blinked and then gave Nov a strange look. "Why do you ask, Spectre?"

"Doctor, please," he replied as his heart nearly roared through his chest.

The Salarian weighed his options; he wasn't clear on why Nov was asking him this. Wasn't sure why anyone was interested in something that happened nearly 10 years ago. "Yes."

Nov closed his eyes and cursed in his head. "What happened?"

"Who was she?" Mordin insisted instead.

"Maj. Cerrus' mate." Mordin straightened at the news. His brief encounter with Cerrus made the mission flood back to him, everything even the memory of what he did rushed back in perfect clarity. "Tell me what happened."

"I can't." He could…but it was probably better that he didn't. He wasn't STG anymore but there was still the military discipline for classified operations. Secrets weren't secrets if they were told to everyone who asked.

"She didn't return from that mission, Doctor, Cerrus has gone 10 years without knowing what happened because it is so well classified our General couldn't even find out more information. _Ten years…_ no closure…no explanation," Nov said in a tone that said he wasn't going to let this go.

Mordin thought a moment, considering his options and consequences. Turians were lethal in a fight and upset Turian males were even worse. "I believe your military refers to it as: Priority Black," he answered finally.

Nov knew what that was; he'd done a Priority Black mission three times in his entire career. "You killed her." Priority Black was a military order meaning to kill certain personnel at the end of a mission to protect a person or intelligence. He'd been the trigger twice and it was part of being Special Forces. Victus and Maridus too had been the triggers before too.

"That is all I will say," the Salarian added noticing the Turian was completely taken aback. "Please leave, Spectre Nov."

* * *

The ride back to the _Rayya_ was spent with Tali asking both Cerrus and Sidda to not say anything to the Admiralty Board about her father's gargantuan mistake. Rael wanted his work to go to Xen and Garrel but Tali didn't even want that. Cerrus and Sidda both agreed that an attack on the Geth would be the Death Knell for the Quarians. In the end Cerrus would do as Tali asked but Sidda was the wild card.

They returned to the _Rayya_ as it seemed they were ready to render a verdict. In all honesty it did take some extra time to wade through the Geth and retake it.

"Could have waited," Cerrus snarked.

"We apologize." Gerral said sounding a little sheepish. "Your return was…unexpected."

"Spectacular," Sidda grumped. "You can go and get your ship now."

"Did you find any information on what happened, Tali?"

"Only that his whole thing is a sham. You don't know what happened so you slap a hero of yours, someone who instrumental in stopping Saren, Sovereign, and the Geth with treason even though you don't have all the facts. Anybody who knows Tali knows that she'd never endanger the Fleet," Sidda said in a tone that was meant to be forceful. "We didn't find any evidence over there just experiments that went wrong. If you exile her you'll prove that this is more about political gain than anything else."

Cerrus was actually pretty proud of her in that moment. She said exactly what he was thinking without compromising Tali's wishes.

"Tali'Zorah," Raan began, "in light of your service record we find there is not enough evidence to convict. Therefore, you are cleared of all charges with our apologies and are free to go."

* * *

Garrus was waiting in the armory when they returned and he held his hands out to the side when he saw Cerrus. "That's called stealing, you know," he said and Cerrus shrugged it off.

"I brought it back so it's actually called 'borrowing'." He handed the sniper rifle back first. "That's a fine weapon, Garrus," he complimented.

It was Garrus' favorite gun, a gift from Sidda, and it saved him life more times than he could count. "They don't make them like they used to," he said and Cerrus agreed.

Sidda stowed her weapons listening to Garrus and Cerrus talk about guns before she was startled by the sudden appearance of Nov. "We need to talk," he said quickly and made it a point to not look at Cerrus at all.

"In a minute," Sidda replied but he insisted even before she finished her sentence.

She could remove her armor later but this couldn't wait. "Right now," he demanded and led her away from the rest. He said nothing to her as they took the left up to her quarters and then still nothing until the door behind them was closed.

"Cal?" she questioned, something was obviously wrong. He was pacing, he seemed upset and maybe a little angry. "Cal, what's wrong?"

"I just solved a decade old mystery, Babe," he replied quickly as he paced.

She stepped in front of him to stop him. "Cal," she said clearly to get him to focus, "what is it?" Nov was usually a very calm person, taking everything in stride, but this time he was clearly upset.

"How much do you know about Cerrus' mate?" he asked abruptly.

Sidda blinked mildly confused as why this topic had him so upside down. "Umm…she died on an op in 2176. Why?"

"Mordin," he said. "I asked Mordin about a female Cabal that he went on a mission with…"

Sidda remembered his story from when she was getting to know him and his past deeds, credentials, as it were, for being on the _Normandy_ for this. "Yeah…joint mission with Salarians and Turians, one Cabal escort that he…" she trailed off as it dawned on her. "Mord-…she…? The Cabal that he killed was Cerrus' wife!"

"Yes."

"Oh my god," Sidda said and could understand why Nov was acting the way he was. Cerrus was unpredictable on a good day…if he ever found out the result would be disastrous.

For as long as he'd known Cerrus this was the only thing he wanted answers to. Now he had them and there was only one decision. "I have to tell him."

That was bad idea, bad only in the sense that it could explode all over everyone. "No, wait, wait, wait." She chased after him and stopped him at the door.

Nov was confused with her reaction. "What do you mean, wait?" Sidda, despite her friction with Cerrus, was always sensitive to his situation. No one should have to endure what he had but now she was telling him no.

"I mean wait and think about this."

"Think about what?"

"You tell Cerrus and I guarantee you he kills Mordin and then probably me next," she spelled it out for him.

Nov's posture turned confrontational. "How'd you jump to that conclusion?"

Her answer was honest. "I'd want to kill him and he doesn't like me much anyway."

Nov was offended on behalf of his friend and it showed. "Sidda, I love you more than anything else in the universe, but Tyr is not your enemy. He's not a mindless killer. You give him too little credit, you always have," he said in a staunch tone. "I'm telling him. With or without your blessing."

Nov left listening to her protest. "Callus!" she called but he ignored her. She grimaced, not looking forward to any of this at all. "Fuck."

* * *

"This weapon is amazing," Cerrus praised, looking over a disassembled Mattock that Isla was working on.

"Doesn't need modifications. It's highly accurate, and so far, very reliable," she told him. "Garrus only modified the scope and the barrel on his, in case you were wondering."

"Damn."

The door opened and Cerrus saw Nov looking a little unsettled. "Tyr, I need to talk to you."

Cerrus nodded and moved away back toward the lockers. He used Garrus equipment so he made sure it was all squared away. They were far enough away from Isla's station and Nov continued to look unsettled. "Hey," he said and put a hand on his arm to stop him from pacing, "what's going on?"

"I know who killed Anara," Nov blurted and Cerrus blinked. He never expected that.

"What?"

"It was something that he said and I finally got it out of him-…" Nov babbled before Cerrus put his hands on his shoulders.

"Who, Cal?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Mordin. STG mission with Palaven Command, one Cabal escort." He explained, admittedly a little disjointed. "I showed him Anara's service picture, it was her," he went on. "Mordin killed Anara as a part of a Priority Black mission from Palaven Command."

Cerrus' was stunned. He stepped away and let his mind absorb as much of it as he could. A thousand questions went through his mind and he didn't hear what Nov said after that, not completely. What he got from it was that Mordin had admitted it to him but refused to speak more of it. After the Blackwatch disaster Cerrus vowed to kill the person responsible for her death and he retreated to that mindset. "Give me a minute," he said after a long silence.

Nov wasn't sure that was a good idea. "Tyr, are you-…"

He cut him off, getting angrier. "I said give me a minute," he repeated slower.

Cerrus calmly walked over to the bench near Isla. The weapons were secured apart from the ones that were being were being worked on. The Carnifex on the table was intact it just needed a thermal clip. He was casual about picking it up and loading it.

"Hey," Isla questioned having detected a significant change in his vibe, "what are you-…" before she finished the question Cerrus hit her hard in the face with his right forearm. Still wearing armor he put enough force behind it to nearly knock her out. She staggered back and fell to the floor, dazed.

Nov heard the commotion. "Hey!" he called to Cerrus but by the time he got to him the door to the inner corridor closed. "Cerrus!" he shouted and tried to open it but it sparked and the light changed to red and flickered. "Son of a bitch! EDI!"

" _I have been monitoring. Control systems have been sabotaged. Attempting bypass."_

"Sidda," Nov called into his Omni-tool, "get up here, we have a problem." He headed over to Isla to make sure she was okay. Her nose and mouth were bleeding but she was still somewhat conscious. "Slowly. Slowly. You okay?"

"What the hell?" she mumbled.

"I'm sorry…I really should have seen that coming," he admitted.

Cerrus entered the Tech Lab before EDI could lock him out then tapped the same key on his Omni-tool causing the doors to fritz out same as the Armory door. _"Major, this action is unacceptable."_ EDI admonished.

"I know," he replied and turned to the only other person in the Lab with him. Mordin watched the Turian. "You and I are going to have a talk, Doctor," Cerrus said quietly and the Salarian eyed him. He read his demeanor and deduced quickly that this wasn't going to be a friendly chat. "I want to know what happened to my mate."

Mordin was silent as he thought of how to handle this. "I have nothing to say on that matter as I told Spectre Nov," Mordin replied.

That was not the answer he wanted to hear and it only made him angrier. The Turian raised the weapon in his right hand. "Her name was Anara Cerrus, wore Chatti colony paint. Codename Gallion," he growled but Mordin remembered all that except her name. He only knew her by her codename. "Tuchanka. 2176. You tell me what happened now or I will kill you."

Mordin still hadn't moved from where he was. "The mission was STG classified. Rumors that there was a mutation in the Genophage sparked concern. Genophage no longer as effective prompted STG and Palaven Intelligence to conduct a fact finding mission. Mission parameters gave one Cabal as escort," he told him. "Further parameters given to me…your people call it Priority Black. They set the order. Upon determination that the Genophage required alteration I was to eliminate my escort."

The level of betrayal he felt couldn't be put into words and the thousands of questions he had dissipated into one. Priority Black…his own government ordered her death. "How did she die?"

Translation: how did you kill her? "Clean and painless," Mordin answered delicately. "One shot. Back of the head." Cerrus' heart broke all over again as he listened to Mordin. The thought of it nearly broke him. "I thought very highly of her, Major. Very kind. She enjoyed music and cooking. Wanted to modify a Salarian recipe I told her about to make for her mate."

Cerrus wanted to pull the trigger, wanted to avenge her. With every fiber of his being he wanted to kill this man.

Sidda joined Nov at the interior door to the Tech Lab as he had the panel to the right off trying to unlock it. "So, you told him," Sidda snapped at Nov. "How's that going for you?"

"Later," Nov snarled. "EDI, get this damn door open."

" _Working. Maj. Cerrus did well in sabotaging the system."_

"How'd he know how to do that?" Sidda asked only further irritating Nov.

"Because he's not stupid," he snapped. "It's one of my programs I gave to everyone. EDI!"

" _Stand by."_ The AI replied with a hint of irritation of her own. _"The sabotage is efficient."_

"Thanks for that, Cal," Sidda sniped and the Turian rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Nov loved Sidda with all his heart but right now he really hated his girlfriend. "Will you save that for later?" he snapped loudly.

The door finally opened and the Sidda and Nov appeared. They got to see a simple scene of Cerrus standing across the lab console from Mordin's usual station holding a gun to his head.

"Cerrus, put the gun down," Sidda ordered but he ignored it. "Cerrus," she repeated and Nov put a hand on her arm.

"Did you leave her on Tuchanka?" Cerrus asked ignoring the fact that he had an audience now.

"Yes," Mordin answered honestly taking a gamble on the fact that so far Cerrus only wanted the truth. The fact that he was armed didn't seem to be as much of a problem unless he lied to him or tried to deny it. "There is no grave for her, Major. Her body likely claimed by the Tuchanka desert long ago. I am sorry, Major."

Nov observed Cerrus, he was a volatile person given the right stimulus and he had every right to kill Mordin right now. "Tyr," he began quietly, "you're not a murderer. Put the gun down."

Cerrus wanted to, he really wanted to. The thought about her last minutes, the idea that she was shot in the back of the head by someone she had gotten to know, maybe even trusted, angered him. He thought of her left on that radioactive rock to be claimed by the desert. It crushed him to learn that his own superiors ordered this and then redacted all information. They didn't even have the decency to tell him the truth. But here in front of him was the person who actually killed her…all he had to do was pull the trigger. He was so conflicted the pistol in his hand started to shake, he gripped it so tight they almost heard it creak. Spirits, did he want to pull the trigger but the other thing he thought about was what Anara would want him to do. He let out a frustrated, pain filled yell, and then slammed the Carnifex down on the lab table between them before leaving the Lab without a word to anyone. Mordin was following orders, that was what Anara would have told him.

* * *

Cerrus ran as far as he could on the frigate, trying to get away, trying to hide and found himself on the subdeck. He should have killed him. At least Anara would have been avenged in some way. People thought of him a mindless killer anyway so why not feed the stereotype. He should have just pulled the trigger. He roared his anger and hit the wall hard enough he felt it clean up into his shoulder and hit the wall again.

"Hey! What the hell…" a female voice exclaimed and he spun aggressively to see who interrupted him. It was the Human called Jack. Tali had told him about her, troubled Human biotic who did everything she could to keep to herself. Jack's body glowed blue and he realized that he was about to attack her and stopped himself.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly sounding more ashamed of his potential action then anything else. He wasn't a mindless killer.

This was the Turian that Sidda didn't get along with and she saw the violence in him. "Are you okay?" Jack found herself asking.

Cerrus saw the cot through the piping in the wall and realized he was standing in her quarters. "No," he answered truthfully. He was quite certain he'd never be okay after this. People he trusted lied to him for nearly 10 years. "I'm sorry…I just wanted to be alone."

"Ship's too small for that, Man," she replied. Jack wasn't totally insensitive and could tell he wasn't playing with her and also could tell that he needed help. "Take all the time you need," she told him. "Just try not to tear out the bulkhead."

When Tali found him it was because Jack let her know he was down in the subdeck. After his initial outburst he hadn't made so much as a peep. He was sitting in the dark corner ignoring everything except the image of Anara on his Omni-tool.

When she approached him she wasn't sure he even knew she was there, he was just staring at the image. "Hey," she announced and he tapped the Omni-tool sharply shutting off the image. "Shepard told me what happened. I'm so sorry, Tyr."

He held out his right hand and she took it letting him guide her down next to him. "I should have killed him."

Tali disagreed. "No. You would have regretted it." She was right. "Out of curiosity…why didn't you?"

Cerrus knew he had that reputation to shoot first and ask questions later. This time he asked the questions first…in time he'd forgive himself for doing it. "He was following orders."

"That's how I know you aren't a killer," she said as he put his arm around her.

Cerrus wasn't so sure. He'd been in the military a long time and had done horrible things to the point it didn't bother him as much. A bad sign. "I wanted to…even after he told me."

"You're a good person, Tyr," she said, "and I love you." It was the wrong time to bring up that he called her his mate during his candid statement to the Conclave. All they had been lacking was the ceremony to make it official.

He was glad to have her, lucky to have her really, and accepted her opinion of him. "I love you too, Tali."

"Shepard said an hour until we meet up with the _Lante_ ," she added and Cerrus remained where he was.

"I think I'll just stay here," he said as he thought about what was next. His future had always been set: career military just like his brothers and his mother. Now…he wasn't so sure.

* * *

The _Normandy_ found the _Lante_ right where they left them and Cerrus was over onto the ship in a hot minute. He didn't talk to anyone except Tali and now he was bound for Victus in the War Room. "Clear out," he ordered and Victus looked up from the map table when he heard the order. The crew looked from Cerrus to Victus and Cerrus barked his order again. "Now!"

They cleared out leaving Victus to give his officer a curious expression. "Major?"

"Did you know?" Cerrus demanded and Victus blinked…he apparently missed part of this conversation.

"Did I know what?" he asked genuinely confused.

"I know what happened to Anara," he said and Victus gave him an odd look.

"What? How?"

"The Salarian who killed her is on the _Normandy_ ," he snarled trying to keep his emotions in check. "She was killed during a STG and Palaven Intel joint mission tagged as Priority Black."

Victus' expression changed, he'd been a trigger on a few of those missions. No one ever liked them but if she was killed on one of those and then it was classified like that he didn't want to know what the government was trying to cover up. "Spirits…what was the mission?"

"You telling me you didn't know, _General?"_ Cerrus hissed and Vicus took a step toward him.

"Major, if I'd have known I would have told you, now stow the accusations and tell me what happened," he scolded with the authoritative tone that made Cerrus back off.

"Palaven Command killed my mate," he said going from angry to completely crushed. "They killed her to protect their secret about the Genophage."

"What secret?"

"The Genophage mutated, became less effective," he answered sharply. "If you want to know more ask Mordin Solus."

"If the Genophage mutated it would definitely be something both governments would want to protect." Victus commented ignoring how snarky his officer was. "I'll talk to Fedorian."

"Don't bother," Cerrus replied and handed him the pad in his hand. "I resign."

The words hit Victus like a brick. Cerrus was career military just like he was. After everything he'd been through Victus thought Cerrus would make General, despite his colored past. As it sunk in he realized Cerrus was walking away. "Major, stop," he ordered loudly and Cerrus grudgingly did so. "I know you're angry and feel betrayed but do not do something you'll regret," he told him moving around in front of him.

"I will not work for the people who ordered her death," he replied firmly and left.

* * *

 _ **PS: In the first draft of this part of Foreign Relations I had this little mystery remain unsolved. That changed when I evolved Cerrus' character. I'm still pleasantly surprised with how many readers really love him.**_

 _ **Song used while I wrote out Cerrus in this chapter is Awake by Godsmack**_


	12. Chapter 12: The Derelict

_**Note: So this one took my brain and ran. I had a lot of fun with it to be honest. Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter I was happy y'all enjoyed it. Cerrus is a complicated fellow and he sure as hell isn't perfect and neither are Victus and Nov.**_

 _ **AlienSinger, I hope you are feeling better but if not I hope this helps.**_

 _ **Music I listened to for this chapter are Come With Me Now by the Kongos, Awake by Godsmack, and Walk by the Foo Fighters**_

 _ **Feedback is always appreciated and please enjoy**_

 _ **Chapter Twelve: The Derelict**_

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Chapter Twelve: The Derelict**

It had been a very long day for everyone involved. Cerrus, Tali, Sidda…it was an emotional rollercoaster even for the people who merely watched. Sidda still had a mission to do but she needed to put the people on the ship back together first. She found Nov in the training room and leaned on the wall watching him take on a punching bag with a mix of Turian and what looked like Human moves. He did tell her that he spent a little time on Earth after she'd died but he never really told her to what extent. It took a moment but he did finally see her and staggered a few punches before stopping entirely.

"Oh please don't do the 'I told you so' speech," Nov groaned as he worked his shoulder in a few tight rolls before going back to the punching bag.

Sidda chuckled, he couldn't be more wrong. The 'I told you so' was voiced already in admittedly bad form. "Actually, I came to apologize."

He was setting up for another round but gave her a confused look. "Eh?"

"I've been a real bitch lately."

Nov shrugged, he'd noticed but it wasn't a big deal for him. "You said it not me."

"You were right about telling Cerrus even though that didn't go so well. You also don't deserve to be yelled at just because I'm having a bad day…week…year…two…"

"Spar with me and all is forgiven," he said and she furrowed her brow.

He was definitely too good to be true. "Damn you're easy."

"Don't tell anyone," he replied with a wink and she looked confused. "I just don't see the point of being angry over petty things," he explained and she stepped away from the wall to the middle of the room.

Sparring with Nov was always fun, he was the first Turian on the _Lante_ to fight her. He beat her, of course, but he saw her resolve even then. Victus was the one who taught her most of what she knew but Nov was fun.

He purred as he trapped her with her back to his chest, his right hand drifted down and he caressed her breasts. This was the other thing about sparring with Turians in general…couples used it as foreplay which was what he was doing right now. "Mmm…you smell nice."

He let his guard down and she used that opportunity and threw him over her shoulder. He landed with a thud and he was on his feet in seconds.

"Spar. Not fuck," she clarified but his expression said it all. He wanted to play with her.

He saw very little distinction. "Can't we do both?" he asked with a smirk.

"Cal…" she warned trying to hide a chuckle. He was now stalking her, typical male Turian behavior…Victus had done this a lot. "Cal…"

"Sid," he replied in kind. "You don't want me to take you then you better win."

She laughed at the terms he set. "Brazen bastard." She smiled, and he attacked her.

Sidda may not have had the best practice lately against Turians but she still remembered everything they taught her. Victus was an excellent teacher as was Nov. Nov loved sparring with her, she was so good but just as clever as he was, at the moment she was beating him at his own game _with_ his own techniques.

She straddled his waist after laying him out and smiled as she leaned over him. "I win," she gloated quietly and Nov didn't mind losing to her if she gloated like this.

"Claim your prize then," he said and she giggled kissing him. She felt him run his hands up her sides and then cradle her as he rolled her on her back. He went straight for her neck as she squirmed under him. His teeth raked her skin and he resisted the urge to leave a permanent mark. "Not here," she told him but he ignored it. "There are cameras."

Nov pushed up onto his knees and his Omni-tool lit up. He tapped a few keys and it spat back a noise often associated with jamming or disabling technology. "Not anymore," he replied. "It'll take EDI an hour to dig that out."

"You criminal," she chuckled.

* * *

Nov really should have taken that escapade to her quarters but it was fun none the less. It didn't take EDI an hour to undo Nov's mischief but it did take 53 minutes. By then she informed Sidda that The Illusive Man wanted to speak with her. Lucky for them both they'd finished their fun and were not indisposed. She had a stinging scratch on her neck but would deal with it later.

"Alright, EDI, put it through," she ordered as she stepped into the Comm room and onto the QEC.

" _Why haven't you gotten the IFF?"_ The Illusive Man asked immediately when the link was established and Sidda sighed.

"Been putting out fires," she replied flatly. It had been a bit busy lately.

The Illusive Man went through the cigarette in just a few drags. Clearly irritated. _"I would hate to think that you are wasting my time, Shepard. I gave you good intelligence and you're squandering it."_

Sidda cocked her head and scoffed. "That's some nerve. Every time you give me _good intelligence_ I always feel like I have a target painted on my back."

" _Commander,"_ he warned.

"Things go wrong every time I follow one of your leads so forgive me if I'm a little hesitant to go get my ass shot off," she went on and The Illusive Man sighed.

" _Commander,"_ he warned again.

"I'll get it," she assured him. In the end, she wanted to stop the Collectors and the Reapers…so did he.

The Illusive Man's confidence in her was dwindling. _"Now, Commander, do not test my patience,"_ he said and the QEC went dark.

" _You should sleep, Commander."_ EDI advised.

"Yeah," she agreed, she was at close to 48 hours without sleep.

" _Commander, Victus is requesting to come aboard and speak with you."_ Joker said and Sidda groaned as the Comm room returned to its typical layout.

"Terrific," she muttered, sounding more annoyed than anything else. "Alright, have him escorted to the Comm Room." At least Nov wasn't present this time to antagonize another jealous male.

"You look exhausted," Victus observed and she looked up at him from across the table.

"Kind of my natural state lately," she replied tiredly. "What's going on? Joker said you wanted to talk."

"Cerrus," he said and Sidda sighed heavily with a groan. "He's refusing to return to the _Lante_. He wants to resign his commission and stay here."

Sidda couldn't blame Cerrus for his actions and found it damn odd that she was siding with him. "If Cerrus wants to stay onboard I'm not going to stop him." She said casually, though the fact he wanted to stay on the _Normandy_ struck her as odd.

Victus glared at her and was getting frustrated. "It's desertion, Commander," he snapped.

Sidda shrugged. "I can't say I blame him. His superiors murdered his wife and then covered it up. I'd resign too."

In all honesty, he could understand the feeling. He would have done or tried to do the same thing. "I didn't accept his resignation."

Victus always was stubborn but he had his reasons for it. If he saw potential in his officers he fought for them. He saw the potential in Cerrus years ago and took him on when everyone else wouldn't touch the damaged officer. "So, as of right now, you're the only one standing in his way," she bit back and saw Victus' scowl deepen.

"Damnit, they could execute him," he replied with a louder tone then he intended.

Sidda cocked her head. "Execution for desertion? That's a little harsh," she commented, genuinely curious.

"A Turian's first duty is to serve. Desertion carries a maximum sentence of execution on Palaven depending on circumstances," Victus replied in a normal tone but the demeanor between them was cold. Very cold, he consistently referred to her by her rank…a way to keep her at a distance.

Sidda sighed. "Alright, I'll talk to him," she said and found that her being the voice of reason to Cerrus more than a little strange. "Damn that seems odd…"

Vcitus snorted. "You gave him the only thing he's wanted for the better part of a decade, Commander, closure."

Sidda swallowed. "I told Cal not to tell him," she admitted. "I wasn't sure what he'd do and I can't afford to lose Mordin."

He loved her honesty. He would have hesitated telling him too. "I'll help you with the derelict Reaper. Let me know when and where." He wanted to apologize to her for his behavior but saw the marks on her neck and got angry again. "Excuse me," he said but then turned back to her. "No one from this ship goes anywhere near the _Lante_ without an escort."

" _Still being an ass,"_ she thought. "What's the matter, Adrien, you don't trust me?"

He thought over the answer to that, he trusted her…not Cerberus. "Commander." He said simply and exited the Comm Room.

She let out another long tired sigh. How did things go so wrong between them? It was the only question she had but at least now she had some backup with the IFF. The IFF that she really needed to procure before something else went wrong. "EDI, I'm going to bed. If anyone wants me have them talk to Miranda or Garrus…whoever they prefer."

" _Understood, Commander."_ The AI replied.

* * *

Stepping into her quarters to see Cerrus sitting on her couch was a bit odd and she wasn't sure how to proceed. The uncertainty was clearly evident on her face because he immediately stood. "I apologize for the intrusion, Commander," he said quietly. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior, my intention was not to hurt anyone."

Sidda didn't blame him for any of this. She was sorry about not wanting to tell him…something she actually felt guilty for. "You don't have anything to apologize for, Cerrus, I think Isla will forgive you, given the situation."

The Sentinel was someone he still needed to personally apologize to. She'd been very kind to him and he returned it with a very hard whack to the face. "That's no excuse."

Cerrus had changed so very much since the first time she'd met him. She remembered the look he gave her on the _Lante_ when Maridus took her on the tour. Remembered the world class beating they gave each other when their differences finally came to a head. She also remembered how helpful he was in tracking Saren. He had come a very long way. "You want a drink?" she asked and Cerrus nodded sharply looking extremely tense.

He watched her retrieve a bottle and two glasses from the cabinet by the locker. "You keep Brandy?" he asked.

Sidda had acquired a taste for it but it took some getting used to. To her it tasted like honey and hit harder than Absinthe. "Never know when I'll need to share a drink with a grump," she smiled and he took the glass offered to him.

"Funny," he replied and he sniffed the contents of the glass. Brandy wasn't his favorite but it was still a familiar aroma. "I also wanted to thank you."

Sidda took a sip of her drink and tried to decide how to act. He didn't know how to act casually with her, all the time they spent berating and beating the hell out of each other made them walk on eggshells in each other's presence. He stood so she did as well. "I know you appreciate honesty," she began and he remained silent. "I didn't want to tell you, I didn't know what you'd do."

He was quiet for a few moments and took a drink of the Brandy before speaking. "Suppose I deserve that," he said, knowing that he wasn't the easiest person to get along with. He had a vicious temper and was a little scary at times.

"I told Cal not to tell you but he doesn't listen to anyone, least of all me," she continued, very surprised with the civil conversation.

Nov was a better friend then he gave him credit for. When Cerrus came onto the _Lante_ everyone who didn't blame him outright for his failure as an officer wanted to be his friend, Nov was the junior officer who tried harder than anyone else and managed to succeed. "I do appreciate the honesty, Commander."

She sighed and he took another drink of the Brandy but didn't finish off the glass. "I also got a visit from Victus," she added, beginning to wander the cabin a bit. "You tried to resign."

Key word was 'tried'. Victus had to accept it to be official as he was the commanding officer. He had other avenues if Victus refused to accept it, but he'd need to report to Palaven Command to do that and right now he'd just as soon firebomb it. "I still will resign whether he likes it or not," he snarled before quelling his irritability. "I've served since I was 15, Commander, every member of my family has served. My mother was senior NCO at the academy. She was there when me and my brothers went through boot. Can you imagine being ordered to pick up the pace halfway through a 20K run after being up for 36 hours by your mother?" It was the first time she'd seen him be this personal with her.

"Sort of…my mother's an Admiral."

His mood returned to being serious. "I won't serve those who ordered a Priority Black hit on my mate and then lied to me about it for almost 10 years."

Sidda couldn't blame him but she told Victus she'd talk to him. Desertion was a heavy charge, and aside from the Blackwatch Incident, he'd never run away from anything in his life that she was aware of. "We have our differences, a lot of them, but allow me to give you some advice: trust Adrien." Cerrus merely looked at her waiting for her to finish. "If he'd known he would have told you. If he didn't accept your resignation he has a reason for it."

"Do you still love him?" he asked and knew immediately that the question should never have been asked. He was still curious on the answer, however. He saw what her death had done to Victus but he didn't see what her death had done to her. Sidda blinked and Cerrus took the hint. "Forget I asked that."

"I appreciate that," she chuckled, not having a clear answer for him anyway. Despite his rather childish behavior lately, there was still something between them.

Cerrus found time to end the conversation and finished off the drink setting the glass down. "Again, thank you, Commander," he said extending his hand to her. "Anything you need you just ask." The decision on whether or not to trust Victus was still up in the air but he'd stay on the _Normandy_ if she accepted him.

She shook his hand and appreciated his gesture, they'd never be friends like she was with Maridus but this was a step. "Could use some help with the derelict Reaper," she said after they released from the handshake. "Here's the intel on it. Can you get me a plan?"

"Count on it." He nodded and left her quarters.

They were still docked with the _Lante,_ but like Victus' order that people weren't allowed on board without an escort, no one was allowed on the _Normandy_ without permission. He held the pad in his right hand and looked for a place to work. Sidda gave him exactly what he needed, something to keep his mind occupied and planning an op was perfect.

"Major." A voice called pulling his attention. It was Garrus and he hesitated, from what he understood Isla was his and he'd hurt her. This wasn't going to be a friendly conversation, Garrus was a hot head. "First, let me say that I heard about what happened and I'm sorry. Those in Special Forces have all taken part in a mission like that at some point, and when we do carry one out, the training teaches us to compartmentalize it, but there's a person and a family behind the one that we execute. That was my flaw…the compartmentalization." Cerrus listened, there was more to this beside the confession and shared experience. Garrus didn't handle it well and Cerrus came to the startling realization that he never struggled with it, all the people he'd killed on missions…he never struggled with any of it. Maybe he was just a killer. "I'm sorry for what happened to your mate."

"Thank you," he replied, but Garrus wasn't done. He'd said 'first'.

"Second, all that aside, let me say this: if you hurt Isla again, that weapon of mine you like so much will be what kills you." Garrus informed, and Cerrus quelled any response he may have had.

"I understand," he replied. "And I apologize."

Garrus glared at him. "Don't apologize to me, apologize to her…you nearly broke her nose."

Cerrus wasn't used to what he was feeling. He kept things to himself, he thought things through, most of the time, and didn't apologize for it later. This time he acted rashly and hurt someone who didn't deserved it.

There were more Cerberus guards out and about now and when Cerrus approached the Weapons Lab they side-eyed him. "Is Isla in there?" he asked one of the guards barring his entrance and the other nodded. "I'd like to speak with her."

After a moment he was allowed to enter and Cerrus found Isla working on her armor. It was painted up like the Blue Suns and Cerrus remembered Tali telling him that she was a former Blue Suns mercenary, she'd changed sides to help Garrus escape Omega. She glanced over at him briefly then returned to what she was doing.

"What can I do for you, Major," she asked and he was able to see the bruising on her face.

"I want to apologize. There is no excuse," he said and she stood from her squatted position but still focused on the armor.

"I've been hit harder," she replied casually. "Are you going to kill Mordin?"

Cerrus shook his head. "No."

"Why?"

He didn't know why she was asking and found himself inclined to give an honest answer. "I don't know. I don't think Anara would have wanted me to do it."

"Apology accepted," she told him.

* * *

Cerrus worked intently on the data that Sidda had given him. He used the Reaper data from EDI to study Sovereign's layout. There was a Cerberus lab ship docked with it that made it a safe place to dock and search for the IFF. There were logical places that the IFF would be but the Cerberus intel hinted that they'd already found it. He wasn't sure what they would find inside a Reaper and he began to sort out the squad size, firepower, and logistics. He looked over the dossiers for the _Normandy_ crew and formed his plan. One of the most intriguing files was 'Subject Zero' or Jack as she went by. She was the one he'd met in the subdeck. He kept reading through the files selecting those he felt would be best suited for the mission. Sidda had accumulated quite the crew, a broad spectrum of professional and bat shit crazy. Mercs, soldiers, vigilantes, cops, murderers…she had them all. He leaned back in the chair and sighed unclear of the time and took a drink of the coffee Tali had brought him.

The next morning he had Sidda and Victus in the Comm Room. "I got it," he proclaimed and set the pad he had on the table. "At least I think I got it," he added after a brief pause. "I've never planned an op on a ship 99% of the galaxy doesn't believe exists."

"Believe me when I say I'd trust your plan over anyone else's," Sidda said and Cerrus paused touched by the compliment.

"Thank you, Commander," he replied and Victus' eyes flicked from one to the other. He flashed back to them in a roaring fight on the _Lante_ , they could hardly stand being in the same room as one another but now…it was very different. Cerrus had changed drastically, seemingly overnight.

"What do you have, Major?" Victus asked. He wanted to press him for getting back to the _Lante_ but he felt that it was best to just let it go for now.

"Pretty straight forward plan, I suggest we go in force though," he said. "If they've lost contact with the Cerberus team and Reaper ships are where Husks are made…"

"I agree," Sidda replied quickly following his train of thought.

"Who do you need?" Victus asked knowing that if Cerrus had him here for a plan he made for Sidda he wanted to use some of his personnel.

"Ruvvak and Maridus would probably be best," Cerrus answered. "Ruvvak's explosives are second to none and we could really use a Ghost." Maridus had to be one of Victus' most underrated soldiers relegated to the CIC for much of his time now, but the Colonel was an absolute badass on the battlefield. "Jack and Tali from the _Normandy_ , Nov too." His selection of Jack was odd but he selected those that would complement and balance the team.

"Alright…lets assemble," she said and they parted ways.

"Major," Victus said stopping Cerrus in his tracks with a hidden cringe, "have you come to any decisions lately?" he asked as the tall Turian faced him properly, the ingrained military propriety.

His question was intentionally vague but Cerrus understood. "No, Sir," he replied tightly.

That was not what he wanted to hear. Cerrus, despite his tumultuous past, was one the best and most reliable soldiers he'd ever worked with. His colossal mistake he'd paid for in full and he'd earned every award and promotion. "Tyr," he began, "whatever you decide I promise someone will answer for this."

He'd believe that when he saw it and Victus saw that before he even needed to say it. They'd lied to him for so long he was disillusion by it all. "General." He replied simply and left him there.

* * *

An hour later the Comm room was filling with the necessary personnel and some that weren't necessary. They couldn't take everyone but Cerrus planned contingences so just because they weren't currently on the mission doesn't mean they weren't slated for backup if everything went sideways.

"So it takes a request from her to get me out of the CIC," Maridus joked as he made his way into the Comm room behind his escort, Chambers. Maridus was a good executive officer, a natural leader, and a proved to be a good mediator between the General and the crew. He was also fairly reluctant to be stuck in the CIC while others did the work he ordered them to do.

"Actually, it was my request, Sir," Cerrus corrected.

That didn't help and Maridus shrugged. "Yeah…but after she gave you the mission."

"It ain't easy being promoted," Sidda said with a chuckle and Maridus folded his arms across his chest and stood next to Garrus. "For those of you who don't know, this is Col. Damar Maridus and Sgt. Linus Ruvvak of the _Lante_ ," she introduced. "They will be accompanying myself, Cerrus, Nov, Tali, and Jack over to the Reaper."

"We'll dock with the derelict Reaper and proceed inside. Tali, Nov, and Col. Maridus are the Tech experts and will lead us to the most likely location for the IFF and extract it. Mission is fairly simple: find the IFF and leave," Cerrus continued as the table presented a holo of the derelict Reaper. It honestly looked like a crustacean carcass.

"Why do I think it's not going to be that simple?" Ruvvak commented, with a ship that looked as creepy as that there was no way it was going to be that easy.

"Because if he has to plan it, you know it's a shit mission," Nov replied with a chuckle. That wasn't to say that Cerrus was bad at planning an op, whenever he planned an op he had an over 90% success rate, what Nov meant by that was that when Cerrus was asked to plan an op the objective was usually insane.

"If it's too rough for you, Cal, you can stay here…I'm sure between Tali and Damar we won't need you," Sidda teased with a giggle.

"Ouch," Nov laughed.

Everyone else was chuckling except Victus, this behavior did remind him of their friendship but now with the knowledge that they were lovers it angered him. He kept it to himself and seethed quietly and began to realize that he may have made a huge mistake.

"The biotic power between the Commander and Jack should be enough to manage whatever we find over there," Cerrus added trying to steer the conversation back on track.

"Garrus, you and Miranda will be on deck as backup in case something goes wrong," Sidda said and then looked to Victus who seemed to have collected himself from their previous encounters. He still looked a step below angry though. "And Adrien will be the _Normany's_ back up if things really go wrong."

The General gave a single nod but his eyes were trained on her. He could see the faint precision scars on her face from the cybernetics used to put her back together. He did find that he actually missed the shrapnel scars around her left eye. He'd never really paid too close of attention to them before, but now she looked so different without them. He saw the top of the same set of scratches on her neck he'd seen earlier and that snapped him from his observation. Someone else had done that…someone not him.

"Anyone who goes over there could be subject to indoctrination," Sidda explained. "Hopefully we won't be over there that long, but there's the disclaimer."

"Questions?" Cerrus asked and Ruvvak raised his hand.

"Loadout?" the demolitionist asked.

Cerrus snorted. "Bring your firepower, Sergeant."

Ruvvak gave a broad grin that could be seen whether you were Human or Turian. "Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir."

"You have all the firepower you need, Commander," Victus added, "two Havocs, a Saboteur, and a Ghost. Most Commanders don't need much more than that."

* * *

The approach to Mnemosyne was rough, rougher than they thought it would be. "What's with the chop, Joker?" Sidda asked.

"Winds are gusting at 500kph."

Inhospitable environment, if the Reaper survived this long in this they'd gotten luck with Sovereign. "Welcome to the failed star," she muttered.

"There's a ship alongside…not active but the LADAR paints the silhouette as Geth," he reported and Sidda steadied herself on his seatback.

"Geth? What the hell…"

"Guess we know why the research team stopped reporting in," he said sarcastically. The chop stilled and Joker informed them that the Reaper was still maintaining its mass effect core and that was the only thing keeping it from falling into the failed star.

The boarding party assembled at the airlock and Sidda sighed. "So we have an added attraction: there's a Geth ship alongside…reason unknown." She heard various groans from those who'd fought Geth and would prefer not to do it again. "Also, this thing has been maintaining its own mass effect field for who knows how long so let's try not to piss it off completely," Sidda said. "I don't really want to be a part of that brown dwarf."

"Any word from the research team?" Tali asked as she checked her shotgun again.

"Nothing. Cerberus isn't sure how long it's been dark," Sidda answered and Maridus voiced what they were all thinking.

"Yeah that's not a good sign. Even without a Geth ship being in mix now."

The _Normandy_ shook as the pilot managed to dock. "Contact, Commander." Joker reported over his shoulder to the group clogging up the passage from the cockpit to the CIC. There were so many armored Turians they dwarfed Sidda, Tali, and Jack. " _Lante_ is hanging back as instructed."

Sidda nodded and looked at the world through her Sentry Interface. "Cal, get the door please," she asked. "Ruvvak, Cerrus, on point."

As soon as they reached the main door to the lab the Reaper, though dead, raised a barrier, effectively cutting them off from their exit, so much for Cerrus' plan. The boarding party had no choice but to proceed further in and disengage the core before hot-footing it out to avoid being vaporized in the brown dwarf. The lab was abandoned. Any abandoned research lab was creepy anyway, but an abandoned lab on a dead Reaper was just worse on so many levels. "No bodies," Jack observed. "That's just fucking creepy."

"Cal. Tali. Check the files," Sidda ordered as Ruvvak and Cerrus took up cover positions, the act was second nature to them by this point in their lives. "Look for anything about that IFF."

"We don't even know where the fuck this thing is?" Jack questioned.

"We have an idea where it is but anything helps narrow the search," she explained. "And any intel on the Reapers is helpful too."

"Fuck me," Jack grumbled and Ruvvak chuckled.

"I like her, Commander," the big Turian grinned. Jack scoffed and Sidda snorted.

"Yeah you would, she's explosive just like you," she said. Maridus tapped a log which brought up unsettling things. There were more logs as they went along and it was clear Chandana's team was being indoctrinated. The Illusive Man was a fool once more by sending them here, Sovereign was dangerous and had indoctrinated Saren, a highly trained and strong willed Spectre and Matriarch Benezia, an even stronger minded individual.

"Sidda," Maridus began as they moved on through the ship, "your new boss is a bastard."

Maridus couldn't be more correct and Sidda snorted as they pressed on. It wasn't long before they were attacked by a horror Sidda prayed she'd never have to fight again: Husks. As they moved on toward the airlock to the Reaper itself Jack, Tali, and Sidda cursed when Scions appeared flanked by Husks.

"What in the blue fuck is that?" Ruvvak asked, while Sidda dove into cover with Jack.

"We're calling that a Scion," Sidda replied shortly, reloading her Mattock next to Nov. "Shockwave based weapon stay out of its way."

"Great," he replied sounding less than thrilled. He sure as hell wasn't going to step in its way.

At the top the stairwell was probably the most underrated weapon Sidda had on her team. Maridus quietly changed to his sniper rifle. Like Garrus, he remained old school when it came to his sniper rifle and his favorite weapon was his Haliat Equalizer. While Cerrus preferred Armax equipment, Maridus used Haliat and they were the last to upgrade to the use of thermal clips. Victus had ordered him to upgrade soon as that model of Equalizer was being phased out. The Scion was an enemy he'd never seen before but they all had the same weakness. Headshots. He cloaked, dropped to one knee, sited, and fired.

His sniper rifle didn't have the definitive 'bang' that Garrus' did but she heard the damn thing over the endless stream of Husks, shotgun fire, and shockwaves, as she and Jack went bowling, Reaper style. The nearest Scion's head vanished and it collapsed, crushing Tali's drone on the way down. He ducked back into cover and waited for his cloak to be available again. Cerrus and Ruvvak were in the middle of it all raising hell as only the Havocs could. Cerrus' cryo blast would set them up and Ruvvak's incinerate would blow them up. Tali and Jack were closer to him at the bottom of the steps on the other side handling everything perfectly but the Husks kept coming, crawling up and down from the walls. Sidda and Nov were trying their best to focus on the remaining Scion but Sidda was pretty much covering Nov since the Husks could easily overwhelm them. He activated his cloak again, took aim at the Scion, and fired. This one didn't drop on impact but it did stagger. A shockwave blast from its weapon hit him and his shields took the brunt of it but it did drop his cloak.

Jack roared her battle cry at the biggest enemy on the field and charged the Scion. The super biotic glowed the most vibrant, brilliant blue as she connected with the creature with the familiar sound of a biotic explosion. The Scion disintegrated and the Husks nearby practically blew up. Once the Scion fell the Husks stopped coming and they regrouped.

"Alright," Ruvvak began, "now I _really_ like her. What's your name again?" he asked but Jack ignored him, thoroughly uninterested.

"Well done, Jack," Sidda praised but Jack straightened her jacket, glared at everyone, and walked away.

"Sid," Nov called. She looked over at what had his attention and her skin crawled. She had a flashback to Eden Prime, her first encounter with Husks, her first encounter with the abomination known as Reapers. Humans became Husks, they were impaled on giant spikes that made one think of Vlad the Impaler and turned into Husks. "Not a good sign," he finished. That seemed to be the phrase of the day.

"What is that?" Ruvvak asked as he saw the Dragon's Teeth.

"Dragon's Teeth," Tali answered with a tone that reflected the fact that she could have gone the rest of her life without seeing those again. "Don't get too close and don't touch anything."

Ruvvak was unfamiliar with the sinister contraption. "Dragon's Teeth?"

"Husks, Sergeant, that's how they make Husks," Nov explained and he looked up at the giant spikes with a grim feeling.

* * *

Leaving the very creepy alter or shrine dedicated to the Dragon's Teeth behind, Tali was able to bypass the security door and gain access to the Reaper itself. The benefit to having this be a Cerberus research space was that they had set up catwalks, consoles, supplies, and a host of other things that made it easier to navigate. Ruvvak remained on point with Sidda and Maridus behind him. Tali and Jack were in the middle and Cerrus and Nov brought up the rear.

"Sniper," Maridus said quickly, they watched a few precision shots from nowhere near their position take out two Husks before they got close to them.

"One of the researchers?" Tali suggested but even to her that didn't seem right.

"No way. You heard the lab recordings these people were going crazy," Nov replied.

"And they were turned into Husks," Jack added.

"The Geth?" Sidda brainstormed but the rest of the team shrugged. "You know for a 50,000 plus year old ship it certainly is a hot bed of activity."

Maridus tuned out their conversation and engaged the cloak stepping around the catwalk safely concealed by his tactical cloak. He sighted down the long chasm that the shot had to have come from but saw nothing through his scope. "Damar?" he heard Sidda ask.

"Clear," he replied quietly. "My bet is it's Geth, keep your eyes open."

Moving around in a Reaper was unsettling to say the least. The short amount of time she'd spent onboard aside, she felt like it was watching her. "This thing's dead and it's still a nightmare," she muttered and Nov saw her shudder like she was trying to shake its eyes off of her.

"You okay, Sid?" he asked quietly as they moved further though the ship to find the IFF.

"I…" she began and tried not to sound crazy, "just feels wrong. Let's go."

Nov could understand the feeling. He didn't like it either and was pretty sure the rest of the team felt the same way. Dr. Chandana and his team went insane and turned into Husks. The passage widened to a large platform with tanks of something marked with Cerberus' emblem. Water or fuel or something and Sidda gestured for the team to spread out. The bark of a sniper rifle and the sudden disappearance of a Husk who'd gotten far too close to Sidda without a damn sound, revealed the mystery sniper. On the upper platform a Geth stood, it had a piece of N7 armor on its chest.

"Shepard-Commander," the Geth said which stopped the entire team in their tracks and then it jumped off the platform vanishing from her sight.

The team was stunned…more than any of them had ever been. "Uhhh…" Ruvvak began, "the Geth just spoke." Geth didn't do that, they just chattered.

Sidda blinked. "Yeah…" she replied and started moving in direction of the IFF and the Core.

The team was just as bewildered as Ruvvak but all followed Sidda. "I mean the Geth just spoke doesn't that strike anybody else as odd?"

"Strikes me as downright unsettling," Sidda replied but focused on the mission at hand, "move out."

"I thought they couldn't speak," Cerrus asked Tali, the resident Geth expert.

"They're not supposed to," Tali told him. "They aren't any smarter than a Varren."

"It looked different than other Geth troopers though," Cerrus went on. He'd seen enough of them on the Citadel. "You notice that, Commander?"

"The antenna on its back?" she clarified. "Yeah, from what I remember the Troopers don't have that the Primes and Juggernauts do."

"Maybe that's why it can talk," Nov added.

"How about when we find it, we ask it," Maridus put in with a tone that reminded most of them of Victus' commanding officer tone. It ended the conversation but it wasn't that he was disinterested in the topic he'd just had enough of the chatter.

The team pressed forward and encountered more and more Husks and Scions. Cerrus has assembled a very good crew and they found the IFF. It was shockingly simple to acquire it after blasting through a few dozen Scions and Husks and between Nov and Tali it was extracted without issue. The question now was to get to the Reaper Core and disengage it.

* * *

The Core was easy enough to find and Sidda split the team. She left Cerrus, Tali, and Nov to guard the door as the rest moved on. They found the Core with the mysterious Geth futzing around the controls. Whatever it was doing caused the door to slam shut behind them and the Geth was overwhelmed by Husks that appeared from nowhere. Ruvvak and Maridus placed a few well-placed shots but they were effectively stuck in the core.

Outside Nov was less than thrilled. "Sidda!" he shouted shouldering his rifle then activating his Omni-tool.

"What happened, Nov?" Cerrus asked and Nov didn't have an answer.

"I don't know," Nov answered quickly focusing beyond the fact that Sidda was stuck on the other side of the wall with who knows what. "Tali, help me."

They scanned the walls with their Omni-tools looking from access panels to see if they could bypass it. "Get it open. Commander, Colonel, do you copy?"

" _Yeah, we're here. The Geth manipulated the system…not sure what it did but we are stuck,"_ she replied over the comm.

"Shepard!" Jack warned as she readied her shotgun. Husks were climbing up the walls and down the walls to get to them in Core they were now trapped in. "Coming from the left."

"On the right too," Maridus added switching over to his Phaeston. "Sergeant."

No order needed to be voiced as Ruvvak took position on the left with Jack as he changed to his shotgun. Despite the situation they had a pretty even spread of talent.

" _Sidda, hang in there. I'm trying to bypass the door now."_ She heard Nov say.

She cursed, there was no one she trusted more to mitigate the situation but it didn't mean she liked being trapped in box. "Damar?"

"Shit cover on both sides and these fuckers will overwhelm you," he assessed as the shooting commenced. Maridus engaged his tactical cloak and literally vanished from her side.

"Jack," she began but she didn't need to hear the rest of it.

"Yeah, yeah," she responded, it was their job to keep the biotics coming and cover the Ghost - when they could see him - and the Havoc from a distance.

Maridus was incredibly useful in this situation, rather than being the conventional sniper of 'snipe and relocate', Maridus was one of the most effective operative classes the Special Forces division ever produced. He alternated between using his weapon and the cryo blast and overload. When he used those in combination the Husks just blew up. On the left side of the room it sounded like a bomb went off when there was an explosive combination of Jack's biotics and Ruvvak's modified High Explosive grenades.

While the other three managed to entertain the seemingly endless stream of Husks Sidda took on the Core. There was more than one way to disable it and if none of them could get to the console she went with good old plan B. Hands down, the Mattock was the best rifle she'd ever used, while she focused on the task Maridus covered her. The Ghost decloaked next to her, his Omni-blade went through a Husk's head that had gotten way to close before cloaking again, and presumably, went back down to the right to engage them directly.

Jack's shockwave was nearly nonstop and Ruvvak's carnage was same. Sidda received some help from two grenades that hit the core back to back thrown by the demolitionist. She spent all round with the Mattock but the core failed, and when it finally did explode the concussion from the blast caused them all to be knocked back in some fashion. After the core exploded the ship rocked and the door that had shut opened.

"Everyone okay?" Cerrus asked in a raised tone. Ruvvak was on one knee. Husks had mauled him but Jack was there to back him up and managed to clear them from him. The right side of his face had a deep gash but he'd survive. "Linus?"

"I'm alright, Sir," he replied with a pained grimace before shakily getting to his feet. It had been a hard fight. "Thanks," he said to Jack.

"Don't mention it," she replied and he was pretty sure she meant that literally.

"We have to go, People, the Core is offline and this brown dwarf will vaporize us," Maridus said as he tapped the disabled Geth with his foot. "What do we do with this?"

"Leave it," Tali said quickly.

"Are you kidding?" Nov asked. "It's an intact Geth. You've said no one's ever been this close to one without being shot at."

"It's too dangerous," Tali replied sharply.

"Commander, I recommend you take it with you," Cerrus put in and got an agreement from Maridus. "It's behavior is certainly worth investigating."

Sidda nodded, she had a similar opinion of the matter. "Cerrus, Cal, grab that thing and let's go. _Normandy_ , we need a pick up," she called into the comm but the response wasn't from Joker.

" _This is Lante, Commander, on our way in."_ Victus answered. _"There's a ripped out section of the hull near your position. We will meet you there."_

"Copy." That wasn't part of the plan but there had to be a reason why he took it instead of the _Normandy_. In the end the pickup wasn't her call. The Turian frigate appeared by the torn out section of the hull, the perfect pickup site with its port side airlock open.

Cerrus and Nov went first with the disable Geth and landed safely in the airlock. Kalvaris, Desala, and Victus himself helped move the unique Geth. Nov and Cerrus provide long range aid.

Tali was next to leap. "Tali," Maridus ordered slapping her arm. The Quarian complied and made her running leap to the _Lante_. Jack and Ruvvak were still mixing it up keeping the enemy busy. "Go, Sid, I got them."

Maridus gave an order and Sidda followed it, trusting Maridus, and then landed in the _Lante's_ airlock stumbling into the line of helpers.

"Colonel!" Maridus heard Ruvvak yell, he and Jack were close to being overwhelmed. They couldn't just cut and run at the moment. The Reaper jolted hard and knocked Jack off her feet…that's when it started to go bad. Ruvvak stepped up and covered her, even going hand to hand with some of the Husks. "Gotta be a finite number of these fuckers!" he bitched and he crushed the head of a husk with his foot.

Maridus reached down and grabbed Jack's arm to pull her to her feet. "Fall back, Sergeant!" he ordered and the demolitionist complied though he left a parting gift in the form of a grenade or two.

Maridus and Jack didn't land very well. They crashed into Ruvvak who wound up catching Jack, and Maridus nearly did a face plant into the deck had it not been for him practically landing on Cerrus and Desala. "Zara, go!" Victus ordered loudly. The frigate launched away from the rapidly descending wreck.

* * *

The Geth was the greatest tourist attraction Sidda had ever acquired. Of course, Miranda wanted to study it and never activate it again unless it benefitted Cerberus, Tali warned against waking because it could network and over power EDI then they'd all be screwed. EDI was intrigued and Victus made another trip over to have look himself.

"That," he began keeping his eyes on the Geth lying behind a mass effect barrier in the AI core, "is one hell of a souvenir, Commander."

Sidda chuckled. Nov scanned it thoroughly a half dozen times with his omni-tool. Tali also examined it and EDI had run about hundred scans of her own. "Wow," Nov muttered. "Last time I was this close to a Geth it was trying to eat me after the boarding party breached the _Lante_."

Tali giggled at his humor. "A fully intact, disabled Geth…Keelah, it is amazing."

"Alright, EDI, let us out," Nov ordered and the barrier dropped then went back up again as soon as they were cleared.

"Are you going to reactivate it?" Victus asked practically ignoring Nov's presence.

"What do you think?" she replied with a grin. A grin that made Victus chuckle, he knew the answer before he even asked it.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," he replied. Nov glowered a little, why were they getting along all of the sudden?

"EDI?" she inquired.

" _In time, Commander, allow me to complete my analysis."_ She replied and Sidda nodded.

"It has a piece of N7 armor on its chest, Sid, did you see that?" Nov asked as they proceeded out of the AI Core leaving EDI and four Cerberus guards hanging out to keep an eye on their disabled guest.

Sidda had, she'd seen it when the Husks disabled it, and it felt very uncomfortable. "Yeah, and it has a giant hole in it," she replied. "Odd choice for a field repair."

"Well it did talk so let's assume this isn't a conventional Geth Trooper," Nov explained.

"Agreed," Victus replied tightly. "I suggest caution in reactivating it. I could stick around for a while if you like."

Victus' mood was a 180 degree change from how he was earlier. He was focused on a mission and ignoring the fact that Nov was present. "I appreciate that," she smiled. Nov bristled but she'd whacked him once to get her point across about jealously so he kept it to himself. "How's Linus?"

"Superficial. Holum says he'll be okay," Victus answered. "If you want me to stay let me know," he added and excused himself.

* * *

Mordin made sure to steer clear of Cerrus while he was onboard. Cerrus hadn't made any kind of retaliation, and to be honest, if he was going to kill him he would have done it by now. Nov occupied a table in the Tech Lab and was working with EDI on their guest in the AI Core. Tali was in engineering working on the same thing. When Sidda entered she noticed Mordin gone from his station, one of the rare times he was either sleeping or eating, and Nov studying the data in front of him intently.

"How's it going?" she asked trying to eliminate her own frustration after arguing with Miranda on how best to handle the Geth.

"We're good," he replied. "Should be able to reactivate it, Tali's working on it too in engineering."

"What's your take it?"

"Tali and EDI both agree it's not normal but I think that since it spoke…we already knew that," he said and she chuckled. "Are you okay? With Victus I mean?"

"Oh, don't start, Cal-…"

"Oh, no, no, no. Thane is one thing and I get that _he_ is something completely different. I noticed that you two were actually getting along down there."

"Cal, stop. I am with you, Callus Nov, not him. You," she reiterated firmly.

Thane told him flat out that there was nothing between them except a close bond. Victus, the bastard, broke her heart but he knew Victus still loved her. That kind of love died a slow and agonizing death; Victus was a threat if he changed his mind. His possessive jealousy was hard to quell but he trusted Sidda, just not Victus. He opened his mouth to keep the argument going but they were interrupted by EDI.

" _Commander, I have completed my analysis. If you wish to reactivate the Geth I believe it can be done so safely."_ The AI reported and Nov bottled the argument that he wasn't going to win anyway.

"Thank you, EDI," she replied. "Come on. I want you there too incase it tries anything. I know you have something in that bag of tricks to disable it if needed."

"I do indeed."

"Adrien," she began as she keyed her Omni-tool, "we're about to reactive the Geth if your offer of back up still stands."

Nov gave her a reproachful look. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Oh, you know, you really need to seek some help," she fired back, annoyed with him now. She stopped sharply and pulled the collar of her shirt down. "You gave me these, not him, so knock it off. He offered his help and I'll use it."

"Well, forgive me if I'm uncomfortable with him being around so much."

"Deal. With. It," she said in a firm and clear tone. "If I wanted him I wouldn't be with you. End of discussion."

In the AI Core, Sidda was armed, Nov was armed and even Victus had a weapon. Nov took Sidda's words to heart for now and put the issues he had with Victus in the back of his mind. Sidda had instructed him to reactivate it and after a few minutes of work the mech flickered to life, sat up, then stood up. The N7 breastplate had a hole in it and also seemed to be feminine despite its contorted appearance.

It stood quietly behind the mass effect barrier and there was a silence for a moment. "Can you understand me?" she asked clearly.

"Yes," it replied simply.

"Are you going to attack?"

"No."

Sidda admitted that this was strangest conversation she'd ever had and that included chatting with Vigil and Sovereign. "You called me by name on the Reaper. How did you know it?"

"We know of you," the Geth answered and seemed to be studying them as they were studying it.

Its response didn't really answer her question. "You mean you know my reputation against the Geth."

"We are all Geth and we have not met you," it said and copied her stance. "You are Siddalee Shepard. Commander. Alliance. Human. Fought Heretics. Killed by Collectors and rediscovered on the Old Machine."

"Old Machine?" Nov asked and the Geth turned its attention to him. "The Reaper?"

"Callus Nov. Captain. Turian Special Forces," it said seeming like it was processing data. "Reaper. A superstitious term originating with the Protheans, we called those entities 'Old Machines'."

"What are Heretics?" the other Turian asked and the Geth repeated what it had done for Nov.

"Adrien Victus. General. Turian Special Forces," it rattled off in the same manner and Nov and Victus exchanged unsettled looks. "Geth build their future. Heretics asked the Old Machine for theirs, they are no longer a part of us."

"They went their own way. Sided with Sovereign," Victus clarified quickly.

"Yes."

"Are the Reapers a threat to you as well?" Sidda asked.

"Yes."

As Sidda continued to question it both Nov and Victus studied the Geth, it was a day of oddities, but this took the cake. The Geth was talking. Ruvvak was right to be a bit unsettled about that. As it spoke to her it mimicked her, every shift in her weight, pace, and fidget, the Geth copied it. Strange behavior indeed for the machine. Victus was watching the same and the guys were both surprised at Sidda's bid to assemble the craziest crew in existence. She shook hands with the thing, now known as Legion, a name suggested to it by EDI from an Earth religion.

They left that meeting knowing that the woman they both loved could recruit anyone into anything for any reason. She was a charmer, even to the Geth apparently.

"Did you just recruit a Geth to fight the Collectors?" Victus asked even though he'd just witnessed it all.

"Yes, I did."

"How about the next time you have a chat with it you find out why it has a piece of N7 armor stuck to its chest," Nov said and Sidda nodded. It was disturbing for her as well as it had a striking familiarity to it.

"Believe me, I will," she agreed and stopped walking turning to Nov. "Can you give us a minute please." Nov was reluctant to comply and his body language showed it. When he left she didn't bother to explain his behavior to Victus, the General already understood it. "Have you talked to Cerrus?"

"Not yet," he replied. "I was intending to find him now."

Sidda wasn't sure what his decision was going to be but she was pretty sure that having him onboard would be a blessing for about a minute then a curse as he'd wreck Cerberus from the inside out. It would actually be amusing, to a point. "Thanks for the help, Adrien," she said after a moment and extended her hand to him. "Honestly."

Victus slowly took her hand in a firm handshake. "All you ever need to do is ask…Sidda," he replied in a gentle tone but he actually used her first name instead of distancing himself by using her rank. "For anything," he said and left to track down Cerrus.

* * *

Cerrus' plan didn't go as well as he had anticipated, but as Sidda had told him and everyone else had ever trained him told him: no plan survives contact with the enemy. The mission had been accomplished despite the hitches and Sidda had gotten what was needed. "Major," Victus announced when he found his wayward officer on the port observation deck of the _Normandy_. He wanted an answer and Cerrus knew it.

"Sir," Cerrus greeted but remained seated.

Pushing Cerrus was like wrestling an animal constantly trying to bite you. "When you first came to my attention everyone told me that you were a failure as an officer, 'driven by your emotions and unstable'," he explained and moved to the window to look at his pretty frigate docked with the smaller ship. "We've all made mistakes and that's what I told them, I used my rank and reputation to get you assigned to me. You were very…difficult at the beginning, but next to Maridus, you're the best officer I've ever served with regardless of your short-comings," he said. Cerrus remained silent. "I know you're angry and you have every right to be but I don't want to lose you because of them. I've already lost two excellent officers this year."

Nov he lost to the Spectres, technically speaking before everything blew up between them, and then Rajin before that to a request she made for reassignment. Cerrus had been weighing his options; Victus was fighting for him to stay in so he thought about what he would do if he wasn't in the military. Mercenary sprang to mind but he didn't want to do that and working on the _Normandy_ would be temporary because he would die before working for Cerberus directly. He'd also made a hell of a mess with the Quarians too so that probably wouldn't work either. He was prone to rash decisions and sighed heavily.

Cerrus was still trying to reconcile it all. "I understand missions," he began, knowing that he was going to have to figure this out soon. "I know how it goes, I know the drill. I've done horrible things to protect my people and because I've been ordered to. How can I serve them?"

There was no good answer for that. "Serve me, Major, I will get answers for you but I think leaving the military over this is a mistake and I think you know it too." It was an honest observation.

Serving Victus _was_ serving them but he was right about it. The military was all he knew and he honestly had no idea what he would do as a civilian. Cerrus stood and there was a long pause before it came to his decision. "Yes, Sir." Victus cocked his head, unclear on what he meant by that. "I will stay in for now but know this, Sir, that if I don't get an explanation in a timely manner I will resign and find my answers my own way."

Victus accepted that, he'd get answers from the Primarch one way other another. "Understood. Report back the _Lante,_ Major,we leave in an hour." Victus left Cerrus on the observation deck, passing Tali on the way out.


	13. Chapter 13: Tartarus

_**Note: Okay, first off, I'm sorry for the delay. I moved, then there was Thanksgiving, Last Kingdom's new season derailed me for a bit, fell down the stairs, work, Christmas, and now the plague. Fear not, however, here is Chapter 13. Little New Years gift for you.**_

 _ **The title for this one is for the dungeon of torment in Greek Mythology. It seemed fitting. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites, and follows. Keep them coming and please enjoy Chapter Thirteen: Tartarus**_

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Chapter Thirteen: Tartarus**

Sidda wasn't immune to the dangers of her own mission and karma finally asked for the bill to come due as she took a massive hit to her right side. The _Normandy_ proceeded on a few missions without her as Chakwas had ordered Sidda to be on some bed rest until she healed. Had Mordin not been present on the mission to the Krogan hospital they may have lost her…again. Sidda lost a staggering amount of blood and nearly died in Garrus' arms on the way back to the _Normandy._ Chakwas and Mordin managed to stabilize her and get her out of the woods; she chose the bed rest on the Citadel. EDI wasn't finished with how to integrate the IFF safely yet so Miranda and Garrus handled anything that was still up in the air.

Nov was happy to have her but mad that she was injured so badly and he waited on her hand and foot. Playing house with Nov was actually quite pleasant, as a roommate he was easy; he'd lived on his own for most of his adult life so he cooked, he cleaned, and he picked up after himself.

"Explain to me again how you got here?" Nov asked as he brought Sidda something to eat. He actually tried his hand at cooking a Human meal and so far it smelled good. Tasting it was something else entirely but she wasn't going to turn him away.

"Gingerly." She replied but that wasn't what he meant. He was referring to how she'd even gotten shot not how she'd gotten from the _Normandy_ to his quarters on the Citadel.

He chuckled briefly. "No. I mean how did you get the big ass gunshot wound through your side?" He clarified and settled in for their movie night. He was still taking Sidda through the good vids that she'd missed while being dead.

It had been a busy week for Sidda and the _Normandy,_ after the derelict Reaper was in the rear view Sidda deposited Nov back on the Citadel and set off to Tuchanka at the request of Grunt and found her long lost favorite Krogan, Wrex, sitting on a damn throne running the show. "Well, I went to Tuchanka, found Wrex and helped Grunt through his Rite of Passage. I'm part of his Krannt and his Battlemaster now, apparently. I got a breeding request from a Krogan…pretty sure it was Wrex." She explained as she grimaced to the pain in her side. "Then I went headlong into a defunct Krogan hospital with Mordin and Garrus to find a colleague of Mordin's and pretty much wiped out all of Clan Weyrlock. Took a round in the last big push during the longest damn fight of my life."

Nov shook his head, he understood missions and injuries were a part of the game but he didn't like seeing her hurt. "You really need to leave Krogan alone, it never ends well."

"Oh, believe me, Cal, if I could sit on this couch and do nothing for the rest of my life I would." She replied with a chuckle as she took a bite of the chicken and rice. "Damn, Baby, this is good. How'd you do this?"

"Well, there are these things called recipes, if you follow the instructions they work really nice." He replied with a chuckle making her giggle.

"Where'd you learn to cook?"

Nov cleared his throat as he ate his own dish. "My father."

Nov didn't talk about his father much, he didn't like him and Sidda knew that he was dead now. "You don't talk about your father much."

"That's because I hated the bastard." He answered sharper than he wanted to. "New topic please."

"Tell me more about your mom?"

"There's the real soldier." He commented. "She couldn't join the military on her 15th birthday like the rest so she went to school. Botany. She met my father when she was 20 and they had me before her disease paralyzed her."

"Disease?"

"Bone disorder. A lot like Joker's, what do you call it, Brittle Bone disease?"

"What happened between you and your father?"

Nov dropped the fork; he didn't like this topic because it still hurt. "I don't want to talk about that."

"Cal, come on. Everyone else seems to know but me."

Nov's sigh sounded more like an irritated growl but he relented. "My father was a pain in the ass. He protested _everything_ …from military conscription, to colonization, to Rylo being used to produce food for the Empire. By the time I got to boot and they heard my last name, day one, my boot camp trip was hell." He paused during the retelling of things he didn't like to share. "I decided to be career military early and he disowned me when I was 22. Banned me from ever coming him so long as he was alive." He vividly remembered the argument in the kitchen when he refused to take his uniform off. He was proud to serve and was proud of his accomplishments. He'd stood up to his father, became his own man, and he was kicked out for it. It all still hurt but it hurt his mother the most.

Sidda felt the awkward silence as he was definitely uncomfortable telling her this. "Cal, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-…"

He cut her off quickly; she deserved to know this, to know these intimate details about him. He did a good job of deflecting to other topics simply because he didn't want to talk about it but she had a right to know him. "It's okay. Once people realized that I was the furthest thing from my father they let up."

"If you hated him so much why give me his knife?" she asked. It was something she'd never gotten a straight answer on.

He picked up his plate again and resumed eating. "That blade is a family blade, it belonged to my grandfather first and I loved him." He replied and was desperate for any other topic than this. "Speaking of family have you talked to your Mom?" Sidda's silence told him everything and he put the plate down again. "Are you kidding me?"

"What am I going to say?"

"I'm alive would be a start."

"It's not that simple, the mission-…"

"I know: Omega 4 Relay, Suicide Mission. I get that but if you live imagine how she's going to feel when she hears you've been back from the dead for this time before telling her." He saw her start to protest and found this ridiculous. "Tell her or I will."

Sidda glared at him. "Callus Nov, you wouldn't dare."

"Try me, Sidda Shepard." He wasn't kidding and she huffed. "New topic."

"Not so much fun when someone does it to you." He teased and ignored her playful glare.

"If I was feeling better I would stab you with this fork." She replied and he chuckled.

* * *

Nov's bed was akin to memory foam and wasn't as comfortable as Sidda would have liked but he did all he could to make sure she had all she needed. Sidda had traded one set of surgical scars for another. The ones she earned when Sovereign fell on her were gone now on her right side she had two long incisions that were tenderly healed and several smaller less precise wounds where they tore through the armor she had on, her liver had been hit and lacerated which is what nearly killed her and he made a note to thank Mordin when he saw him again.

Sidda hissed as Nov's fingers struck a tender spot. "Sorry." He said quickly taking his hand away from running light circles around the bandaged injury.

"Will you sleep, Cal." She said and shifted slightly. It was the middle of the night and he was still awake, watching her.

"Eventually." He replied quietly and nuzzled her closely. "I just want to make sure you're okay."

"I'll be okay…unless you're packing a spike chucking shotgun." She muttered sleepily as he cuddled up to her.

"I lost you once, I'm not losing you twice." He purred in reply making himself comfortable. Nov was sweet, he cared so much about her and it always showed. He had his moments but then everyone did, sometimes Sidda wanted to punch and sometimes she actually did but he loved her completely. "Besides…the only one who is going to attack you here is me."

She chuckled. Nov had been a complete gentlemen proving that he wasn't just there for the sex. "Ow…don't make me laugh."

Sidda woke to Nov squatted next to the bed looking at her. He was a very appealing face to wake up to and she smiled to him. "Hey."

"Morning." He smiled. "I have to go to work."

"Thought your job was looking after me." She said with a smile and gently shifted her position to lay on her side.

Nov would take care of her everyday if he got the chance. "That's not a job that's a privilege."

She couldn't decide if that was a good line or a bad one. "Oh come on, Cal…I already like you. You don't have to flatter me even more."

He chuckled to his admittedly bad line. It was honest but when it came to pick up lines it was pretty bad. "Are you going to behave yourself while I'm gone?" he asked. "There are weapons in the apartment but I hope you don't find a way to shoot yourself while I'm gone."

Her expression narrowed playfully. "Bite me."

He cocked his head slightly. "Really?" he asked gently with clear hopeful curiosity.

Sidda blushed, Nov wanted to put his permanent mark on her and she knew it. "Cal,"

"I know. I'm teasing you." He really did want her as his own for the rest of his life but she hadn't given him that permission yet. "If you need me, you call me."

"I can take care of myself, Cal."

"Sid," he said softly. "if you need anything, you call me. Okay?" he stressed.

He was so cute when he was playing the cuddly nurse maid but her stomach fluttered knowing that he cared so much. "Okay. I will."

He nuzzled her neck and took in a deep amount of her scent. "I love you." He'd say it every day, even though she hadn't really said it to him. As he began to stand up straight she stopped him sharply.

"I love you too." She said pulling him to her and kissing him.

She said it to him and he was elated. "When you're healed up I'm going to show you just how much I appreciate that." He chuckled and she stroked his cheek gently. Nov had to skedaddle and go to work before he got roped into staying with her.

* * *

After her shower Sidda carefully made her way to the kitchen to take the pain meds and find something to eat. She was limping even though her leg never took the hit. The Krogan shotgun was called a Graal Spike Thrower, a weapon she'd never seen before, had a catastrophic impact on her shields and barriers. One shot took them down and the next two shots took care of the rest. It was like being shot with a giant nail gun. She was favoring the right side and had started to limp from the sympathy of it.

After breakfast she checked her messages and found a rather colorful update from Garrus. The _Normandy_ was still in once piece, Miranda and he did tend to get along fairly well and Miranda appreciated Garrus' leadership and experience. Garrus did mention that Miranda and Jack were giving him some considerable headaches after coming back from Pragia, the facility that Jack had been kept in and experimented on. Fortunately, Garrus managed to keep them from tearing the ship apart in a biotic display but Sidda sighed to the thought of the SSV Powder Keg once again. If it wasn't one thing it was another. According to his update they were on the way to Bekenstine for vague reasons revolving around Kasumi, must have been for her Grey Box. Sidda chuckled to the thought of how he was going to figure that one out.

After reading the update Sidda thought about Nov's little ultimatum, she had been putting off talking to her mother but really needed to. Too many things were up in the air and to be frank, it wasn't right to leave her in the dark.

From what she had been told by Hackett and Anderson that her mother had been promoted to Admiral, though she resisted, but remained in command of the _SSV Orizaba._ "Hi, Mom." Sidda began and the woman on the screen blinked several times.

Her mother had not changed, not even a little bit. Her auburn hair was still the same short regulation cut and she looked the same right down to the Alliance utilities she typically always wore. _"Steven said that you were still alive but I didn't believe it."_ She commented, completely stunned.

She already knew and Sidda felt about three inches tall. "I'm sorry I didn't talk to you sooner."

Hannah didn't argue with that. _"You damn well should be, young lady."_ Her mother scolded. _"I have to find out third hand that you are alive and have been for months. David told Steven and he told me."_

Sidda swallowed, Nov was right. Victus was right. Even Garrus was right. "I've been in the Terminus on…assignment."

Like mother like daughter. She was still mad at her, the excuse of 'buried in work' on flew so far. _"Please tell me that you have at least spoken to Adrien."_

That caught Sidda off guard and she stammered. "I…I have, actually." Victus said that he met her and she had allowed him to keep the dog tag she'd given him.

Hannah harrumphed. _"He was probably elated to see you. Poor man had a hard time moving past your…"_ she trailed off acutely aware that her daughter was not dead. The details were fuzzy but she was definitely _not_ dead.

"He broke up with me, Mom, five minutes after seeing me again." Sidda said sharply, she was tired of this already.

Her mother paused and took that in. She wasn't surprised but Adrien was a very respectful man when she met him at the funeral. _"I'm sorry. Never thought I'd like a Turian as much as I liked him…anyway."_

Sidda was uncomfortable with the topic. "You look good, Mom." She said changing the subject.

" _And you look like hell, Sid."_ She said bluntly.

Sidda shrugged, Nov had commented that she looked pale. "Took a hit the other day." She said vaguely. _"And managed to leave several pints of blood on Tuchanka."_

Sidda wasn't going to tell her what she was doing and Hannah wasn't going to ask. _"Well, maybe one day you can tell me what you've been doing when you're done with whatever you're doing."_

There was a pause as Sidda confronted the elephant in the room. "I'm sorry about Dad. I…"

Hannah held up her hand. _"Don't. There is nothing that you could have done and it wasn't your fault."_ She said with a gentle smile. _"Listen to me, Sidda, you being back from the dead is enough for me. Promise me we'll catch up when you are through with your mission."_

"Absolutely." She said with a hard swallow.

Hannah looked off the camera and Sidda knew what that meant. _"I have to go now, Sid,"_ she said. _"please, take care of yourself."_

"I will. I love you, Mom."

" _I love you too, Kiddo."_

Sidda conveniently left out the fact that she might not be alive after this going through the Relay. Nov was right to press her to tell her mother she was still alive but at the same time if she died stopping the Collectors her mother would have to lose her twice. It left Sidda with a terrible feeling. "Yeah…that sucked." She muttered and leaned over on the counter feeling the pain in her side.

* * *

Nov had been summoned to the Turian Councilor's office a second he'd gotten to the Spectre office. Sparatus was someone he was pretty familiar with, he'd never served with him but Victus and Maridus had before he followed a political path.

"Spectre Nov." Sparatus greeted plainly as the female Turian who'd escorted Nov in gave him an appraising eye on the way out. As Turian's went, Nov was as handsome as they came.

"Councilor," Nov greeted in turn and stood at ease, an ingrained habit after spending nearly his entire life in the military.

"I have to say I'm surprised to find you on the Citadel for a change." He said and gave him a look that Nov had received many times from Victus. The look of I know what you have been up to. "Don't try to deny it; I know you've been jetting off with Shepard every chance you get."

Nov nodded sharply. "Yes, Sir,"

"I know she was wounded," he went on and Nov eyed him. "word travels fast when a Spectre is admitted to Huerta Memorial. Especially one that all the computers seem to think is dead. How is she?"

Nov was hesitant to reveal any information. "Recovering." He answered. "She lost a lot of blood."

Despite it all, Sparatus had nothing but respect for her. She had proven herself against all odds and proven that she was right more than she was wrong. Eventually they'd trust each other at the same time. "Pass my wishes for speedy recovery." He told him and sifted through a few data pads on his desk. "That being said, Cal, may I call you Cal?" he asked and Nov nodded. "I would strongly advise you to remain on the Citadel for the time being, no more _Normandy_ unless you are ordered. Clear?"

"Yes, Sir." Nov replied. Sparatus wasn't his superior officer; Spectre's answered to the Council and tended to received assignments from one or all of them. The Spectre's had a pecking order as well; Sidda was the most famous of them all right now, and Nov was toward the bottom. In total there was around a hundred Spectre's in service scattered all across the galaxy.

"Good. Have a look at this. You technical skills have been likened to magic, Cal, so time to put it to the test." He went on and passed a pad to Nov.

Nov scanned it quickly then looked up at the Councilor who had returned to his duties. "You do know that I've been spending all my free time in the Terminus, right?" he inquired catching the gist of what was in the data he's received.

"Yes. A good portion of that data came from an upload given to Anderson by Shepard." He explained and Nov looked down at the pad again. "Look it over and report your opinion."

"Understood."

* * *

Taking time off to heal wasn't Sidda's strong suit; she was used to being on the move all the time so sitting on the couch or milling about the apartment was starting to drive her crazy. The worse part was it had only been two days. A new message chimed in making her heart skip a beat when she saw who it was from, a message from Victus.

" _Sidda, I apologize for my behavior. Seeing that you had managed to move on impacted me more than I would have liked. I handled it like an adolescent child and took my anger out on you when you didn't deserve it. I never meant to say any of those things to you. I'm sorry. It took me a long time to figure out how to be without you, once I did manage it you came back from the dead. I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to say considering what I've already said but I wanted to tell you that…I wanted you to know that I care about you still and I'll always be there if you need me. Please take care of yourself. – Adrien."_

Sidda read the letter about three times before she realized she hadn't taken a breath. She didn't know how to take that letter. The bottom line of it all was that he left her…Cal stuck with her no matter what. She closed the letter after staring at it for a longer amount of time then she thought. Nov was the one who pulled her in rather than push her away.

She stood sharply, regretting the sudden movement immediately. Her hand went to her side as the pain seared through her abdomen. "Fuck." She cursed as the pain effectively trumped the mixed feelings about Victus. "Son of a bitch." She added as the majority of the pain subsided. Pain meds were still next on the menu; she took a few more and then fell asleep on the couch. If nothing else she'd forgotten about Victus for the time being.

After spending so long in the military, Sidda had been conditioned for battle and combat. That awareness translated to every aspect of her so she knew when something was out of place. Something was out of place and Sidda woke up just in time. There was an intruder and Sidda rolled off the couch quickly to evade. The pain killers fogged her brain so her reaction time was slowed, biotic amps did a good job of helping to clear hangovers when the biotics were used but when it came to drugs a higher dose was usually needed for biotics thus harder to metabolize.

As far as she could tell it was one man in black armor, by the way he fought he was military trained. Sidda parried his attack quickly and was late on her own biotic attack as she was a bit disoriented and not at the top of her game. He staggered as he was hit by the dark energy but it was weak allowing him to shake it off quickly. Her attacker got to her and in a decisive action slammed his knee into her abdomen. Sidda screamed. It wasn't dignified and it was completely involuntary but the tender injuries gave her no choice. She'd lost the fight after that and she knew it but she was going to make him work for it. The pain was almost as bad as the initial injury on Tuchanka and it was enough to help him subdue her.

The bright side to this was he didn't seem to want to kill her, just subdue her. She blocked his next attack and produced a Warp attack but he didn't let her go, instead her attack failed and they both crashed. He successfully gained the upper hand and she cursed everything right now. He straddled her and dropped his left knee on her abdomen effectively asserting his dominance.

"Hello, Commander." The man over her greeted in a less than nice tone and he leaned in closer so she could get a closer look at his face.

She recognized him, vaguely, a face from before she'd died. "Toombs?" she questioned. Toombs was unstable two years ago and clearly he hadn't changed.

He gave her a sinister half smile and answered with a hard punch to her face causing Sidda to black out.

* * *

The Spectre office was quiet as Nov looked through the information Sparatus had given him. Batarian Tech wasn't his favorite subject, it was crude and outdated. However, based on the data he was looking at right now they'd made leaps and bounds progress.

"Hey, Cal," a voice greeted drawing his attention.

"Decian, hey," Nov greeted as the Omni-tool beeped an alert. The security sensor for his apartment, he switched it off and paid attention to Chellick. The detective was certainly more interesting than Batarian tech. "what brings you up from the depths?"

"Question for you," he began and leaned against the console he was sitting at. "how's Shepard?"

Chellick was his friend, they usually had lunch together, and it didn't really surprise him that he knew what was going on. Still it annoyed him, Sidda was too popular and a target. "Does everybody know?"

He shrugged. "When a dead Spectre is checked into Huerta-…"

"News travels…I know." He finished as he's already heard this from Sparatus. "I'm going to have to do something about that." He muttered in irritation. "So is that all you came up here for?"

Chellick shook his head. "Do you know who this is?" he asked and handed him a pad.

The human male on the screen was unfamiliar to him and he was very unsure why Chellick was asking. "No. Should I?"

Chellick sighed and folded his arms across his chest. "Merc that keeps popping up on my radar. When I run him through the system he shows as Alliance but he's surprisingly well redacted."

"And you want to know if a friendly Spectre can get you more?" Nov grinned and Chellick snorted.

"I'd ask Shepard but…"

"She's probably asleep right now." Nov commented as he ran a search under his access code.

"You know, I thought Shepard and Gen. Victus were an item." Chellick commented trying to gently ask the question, it wasn't any of his business but he was curious. "I did have to track him down for her when she scared the living daylights out of me in my office."

Nov paused in mid type then sighed. "They were and now they are not." He said simply.

"So you get her now?" he asked and Nov looked kept typing.

"Yes."

Chellick was a cop and knew better then to press further due to the Nov's tone and guessed there was probably more to this little love triangle based on his body language. "Interesting."

Nov ignored him. "Anthony Toombs, Corporal, Alliance Marines." He announced changing he subject back to why Chellick was originally there.

"You have a whole book in here," Chellick commented and leaned over his shoulder. He knew the Spectres would have more information on this. "who uploaded it?"

Nov scanned down the dossier. "Shepard did." He answered with a blink or two. "Two years ago." Sidda wasn't the conventional Spectre, she didn't really have time to file reports aside from anything related to Saren.

"Scroll back up." He said. "Toombs was the subject of a Cerberus experiment. His entire Marine detachment was massacred on Akuze after a Thresher Maw attack; he was found to be the only survivor and was experimented on for an unknown amount of time until he escaped and executed the majority of the Cerberus scientists that worked on him." Chellick read out loud.

"All but one – that we know of – Dr. Wayne, turned over to the Alliance after being taken into custody on Ontarom by Shepard and her team. No further details." He read and vaguly remembered Cerrus talking about this when he came back to the _Lante_. "Look here, 'Highly unstable and extremely dangerous if given the correct trigger'," Nov read and got a bad feeling. "This guy's a mercenary?"

"Mmhmm." Chellick responded. "Been causing all kinds of trouble in the Blackhouse District lately…when Sovereign exploded it didn't have the common courtesy to destroy that section of the Ward for me."

The bad feeling wasn't going away. This guy had ties to Sidda and she was vulnerable right now. "What kind of trouble?"

"Illegal weapons deals, enforcement, protection rackets, usual stuff but progressively more violent." He said. "A few cops were injured in the last encounter."

"Do you know where he is?"

"No. We know he's on the station still but the tunnel rats say he's been asking a lot of questions about security in the commons and the apartments." Chellick answered and Nov quickly skipped through the rest of the files.

"Uh-oh." Nov commented as what he was reading wasn't making him feel any better. Sidda felt the need to add a full dossier to Toombs' file and it dawned on Nov. He rang up Sidda's Omni-tool but received no response. "Come on, Sid, pick up."

"What?" Chellick asked seeing Nov clearly worried now.

"Back me up?" he asked and the Detective nodded with a curious expression.

* * *

Sidda woke up and immediately let out a pained cry, everything hurt. Face, the back of her head, her entire torso, she felt it all. She was in a chair with her hands bound behind her back. The living area was a mess, the coffee table crushed, couch moved during the struggle and things knocked off the other end tables.

"Yeah, I heard you got shot." The man commented as he appeared in front of her. "Graal Spike Thrower is a nasty thing, the Krogan have a knack for making crude yet highly effective weapons."

Toombs, the sole survivor of Akuze and a Cerberus test subject, stood before her. He looked much better than he had when she first met him and he was in top of the line gear. She pegged him as a mercenary now but she didn't see any insignia or colors she recognized. "Toombs, what are you doing here?"

His expression was cold as he eyed her like a predator. "You lied to me. You pulled me out of that hellhole and buddied up to me then here you are...Cerberus stink all over you. You're one of them."

" _Terrific. He's still unstable."_ She thought to herself. "I am not." She replied firmly.

"Yes you are!" he roared. "Cerberus ship. Cerberus crew. Cerberus funding. _You are Cerberus!"_

"No, I'm not!" she answered defiantly and he slapped her across the face.

"I've seen it, Commander!" he barked back. Once he learned she was alive he tracked her and saw a good deal of her handiwork in the Terminus. "You on Omega, on Illium, all over the Terminus flying Cerberus colors _working for them!"_

Eventually, someone would just _ask_ her where she'd been rather than jumping to the conclusions and making up their own stories. "I didn't have a choice. The _Normandy_ was destroyed, I died, Cerberus put me back together…I woke up to this shit storm. I didn't have a choice in it."

Toombs still felt the pain of the experiments that he'd been subjected to. His nerves felt constant pain and he lived on injections to numb it, hearing her say she didn't have a choice angered him more than he already was. " _I_ didn't have a choice. You went along with it. I was an experiment." Sidda tested the bindings, they felt like Omni-cuffs so there was no way she'd be able to break them. The red light in the kitchen was on so Nov's security trigger had been tripped. Hopefully, Nov would be here soon…or at lease C-Sec.

She rolled her eyes and growled. "Oh, buck up already and get over it!" She barked back tired of hearing the same old story. "Human colonies are the targets in the Terminus and I'm trying to stop it. The Alliance is stretched thin; Cerberus brought me back together and _asked_ for my help. I'm trying to save people you fucking idiot!"

He punched her again, harder this time and Sidda tried to shake it off. "I trusted you. You told me you'd make them pay. The Alliance took Dr. Wayne…and let him go. They got their information but let him go with a slap on the wrists. I thought it was because you disappeared…maybe it was because you joined them."

She worked her jaw after the hit and glared up and him. "I don't know what to tell you, Toombs, I didn't know they let him go…I didn't know. Let me go and I will happily help you find him."

"No need for that." He responded with a glint in his eye that was reserved for sociopaths. "He's dead already and so is everyone else from Hades' Dog that escaped the first time. Except you…the one who lied to be about it all."

Sidda remained annoyed and shook her head. "Look, I've already been shot once this week…if you're gonna do it just do it already."

"Defiant until the end I guess." He said.

"Unbind me and we can go for round two." She growled. Toombs knew just how good she was and had done his research. "You want to brag, you want to dominate, you want me to hear your story otherwise you would have killed me in my sleep."

* * *

Nov piloted the C-Sec skycar at a speed that made Chellick a little nervous. "Mind telling me where the fire is?" he asked and put a hand on the dash as Nov wove in and out of traffic.

"Toombs was a Cerberus experiment, Sidda found him two years ago while investigating the murder of an Alliance squad on Edolus." He told him as Chellick watched another car come too close for comfort. "According to the files back there, Sidda talked him down and promised that she'd make Cerberus answer for what happened to him…Sidda was resurrected by Cerberus."

"So if he's on the Citadel and she's here-…"Chellick trailed off briefly. "Now what are the odds that all the questions he's been asking the tunnel rats are about how to get into a Spectre's apartment?"

"I'd say better than average. Sidda and your boss can yell at me later if I'm wrong but right as you came to see me the security alert in my apartment went off," he explained and kicked himself for not picking up on this sooner. "I switched it off because Sidda set it off yesterday on accident but now she's not answering when I comm her."

Chellick felt his stomach tighten; he really hoped that Nov was wrong. Sidda tended to fight trouble wherever she went hopefully now wasn't one of those times. "I can call for more backup."

Nov thought about that and came to one conclusion. "If he's there I don't want to spook him. Just you and me for now, Decian."

Chellick was used to being the driver…and Cal was insane right now. "If we get there in one piece, Cal, come on." Nov ignored him and focused on getting there in one piece.

* * *

Toombs was fiddling with something that Sidda couldn't readily see from her perspective and she eyes the clock. It had been nearly twenty minutes and still no Nov and no C-Sec, she began to worry. "If you're going to kill me, get on with it." She tested harshly.

"Do you remember what you said to me, Commander?" he asked in reply.

Vaguely, the memories were there but some she just couldn't recall in the correct order. According to Miranda it was a side effect of the Lazarus Project, all things considered Cerberus did a bang up job in resurrecting her. A few out of place memories was something she could live with. "Refresh my memory." She hissed.

" 'If I find them I'll shut them down…you have my word on it'." He said. "Well…seems to me you lied."

"Anthony, we've been through this: I wiped out a massive chunk of their operation while chasing Saren. Then the Collectors blew the _Normandy_ out from under me and somehow Cerberus brought me back from beyond the grave. I didn't have a choice, same as you. I woke up to an entirely new world." She explained in a sincere tone tell him that she was through explaining her actions to him. It happened, it was done, it was time to move on. "So if you're going to kill me just put a bullet in me now and be done with it."

Toombs heard all she said but he wasn't falling for it twice. He trusted her once and she turned on him. "No bullet for you, Commander," he said in an unnerving tone then held up a syringe. "do you know what this is?" she flinched slightly as all the scenarios played out in her head all at once. "Thresher Maw acid." Sidda straightened her posture trying to the alarm in her expression. "Some survive it…most don't and it is a painful way to go."

"You get the hell away from me with that stuff." She snapped but it was a fruitless venture. He set on her as she tried to wriggle away but he wrenched her head to the right exposing the left side of her neck. "No!" she yelled as the needle pinched in and she felt the excruciating burn of the acid being injected into a vein.

One or maybe two shots rang out over her screams and Toombs abruptly pulled her sideways onto the floor with him. She saw his vacant expression looking at her and the back part of his head was missing, blown away by Nov who appeared over her.

"Decian?" she heard him ask quickly and then heard Chellick respond.

"Clear."

Sidda began to convulse as Nov plucked the needle from her neck. She could see both of them as Nov put a hand over her neck. "Spirits, is that acid?" Chellick asked in horrified disbelief.

"Medic, Chellick, medic!" Nov ordered loudly as he tried to maintain his cool.

"Two minutes, they're coming."

Sidda was in fog of pain, fear, and whatever else was happening to her body with that acid being injected and everything started to drift away as the vision began to narrow as well. "Sid. Sidda!" Nov called trying to keep her focus on him. "Come on, Baby, hang in there. Don't leave me, Sid, come on." She didn't hear much more after that as her vision closed like the old fade to black set from old movies. The last thing she saw was Toombs dead eyes.

* * *

The doctors at Huerta were not exactly thrilled to see Sidda back for something other than a checkup on the shotgun injury. She had acid injected into her bloodstream no less and that took some creative thinking to correct. Nov only understood part of it as he was an engineer not a doctor. Suffice to say they stopped the spread of the Thresher Maw acid, fixed the ramifications of it – mostly – and she stabilized. The shotgun wound was fine for the most part but extremely tender now, there was a worry about the liver laceration but the surgical binding held and the site of Toombs' injection showed a very unique scar.

It was Sidda's turn to cook dinner, a way to repay Nov for both his hospitality and his protection, and the fact that he had be unbelievably gracious. When Garrus entered he immediately identified when she was cooking just by the smell.

"Rommus Stew?"

"Yep."

"You can't eat that."

"Really? No!" she replied sarcastically then chuckled. "It's for Cal. It's his favorite."

Garrus smiled, he had is issues with Nov but he made Sidda happy. "Mine too."

"Fantastic. Taste it." She ordered. "I can't taste it so tell me if it's good."

"You never cooked for Victus?"

"Not dextro food." She answered and he took a spoonful of the broth and tested it. "He did most of the cooking."

Garrus listened and put the spoon in the sink. "Little bland. Needs more of that." He said indicating to a tall canister of spice that Sidda couldn't pronounce.

Sidda took his advice and added more. "So…I heard how Bekenstein went." Sidda teased.

Garrus groaned. "Don't start with me, Shepard."

"You do know that undercover is a figure of speech right?"

"Shut up."

She chuckled. "So, how's the _Normandy_ without me?"

"Quieter." He joked. "Part from Miranda and Jack trying to tear the place apart everything else has been fairly quiet. Just got back from Illium."

"I bet the Illusive Man is screaming." Sidda muttered and Garrus snorted.

"If he is he's doing it to Miranda not me." Garrus replied. "Speaking of…EDI managed to integrate the IFF…it's ready to test."

The idea of the Reaper tech being integrated into the _Normandy_ made her uncomfortable. "Minimal crew test. Give all non-essential personnel leave on the Citadel."

"Miranda's already volunteered to oversee it. What about everyone else?"

"Anyone non-essential, mandatory leave…including you," she pointed using the butter knife as she worked on her own dinner. "if the test is successful…"

"Suicide mission it is." Garrus finished for her and grabbed the Turian version of a breadstick from off the counter and snacked on it. "Well, the _Normandy_ is fully upgraded – everything from the Surgical Med Bay to Thannix Cannons – top of the line…she's ready to go."

* * *

Batarian Tech was as barbaric as anything Nov had ever seen. Due to his prowess even back in OCS he underwent advanced tech training. Everything from Turian to Human tech, Nov could understand it and work it. Batarian tech was not elegant like Asari, versatile like Turian and Human, or resilient like Quarian, but it was damn effective despite how crude it appeared to be.

His apartment smelled like home and he froze as he entered. The good bits of his childhood rushed back as the smell of the stew made his stomach growl. "Sid?" he called and found her in the kitchen. "Whatcha doing?" he asked playfully seeing the place settings for two set up on the island.

"Making dinner for you." She said with her hands on her hips and a smile on her face.

He looked her up and down and couldn't help but make a mental remark of how pretty she was. "For me?"

"Yeah. You've been a really good sport about everything lately, even when I'm being a real bitch, and…you saved my life." She explained and he moved closer to the island looking at everything she'd prepared for him.

"Anything for you." He replied and Sidda blushed deeply. "You did this for me? This is the best thing anyone has ever done for me." He said with a genuinely happy tone. "Thank you."

"Stop it." She blushed deeper.

He put his right around her and pulled her close. "I love you." He said and kissed her.

"Dinner first, Playboy." She said between kisses and he chuckled.

* * *

The _Normandy_ departed the next day without the majority of her crew, just enough people to run it and test the IFF. Sidda left to talk with the Council and then Anderson, a wasted venture on both accounts as they all still saw her as either a traitor or a troublemaker. When she returned to Nov's apartment she found Nov and several others in the living room watching TV.

"Who are all these people?" she asked as she followed Nov into the kitchen.

Nov threw a beer bottle into the trash and fished a few more out of the fridge. "Well, that's Decian." He pointed to Chellick. "And that's Garrus…come on…we didn't play that hard last night."

Sidda rolled her eyes. "Do you ever tire of being a smartass?" she asked.

"Not a bit." He chuckled twisting off the top of the beer he kept for himself. "The ones you don't know are friends from work."

"Cops or Spectres?"

"Little of both." He replied with a chuckle.

Of those in the living room Isla, Sidda, and Kasumi were the only Humans, Tali was the only other non-Turian and she joined them at the island in the kitchen. "Thank you for the invite, Cal." She said and Nov nodded.

"No problem, Tali." He replied. "Hope they're not too loud for you."

Cerrus was loud while watching sports, the only time he really got riled up when he wasn't working. "Not at all. There was a roar from the living room as terrible call sent the rest into an argument. "Or not."

"He was out." Chellick said loudly.

"No he wasn't. See, look at the replay." Isla said.

"He was out." Chellick repeated and then had to endure Isla's smirk when it turned out that he was wrong then he cursed loudly.

"I'm having a flashback." Nov commented to Sidda and Tali.

"To what?" Sidda asked as she fished out something to snack on.

"The Academy…Engineering School to be more specific." He answered. "Had four roommates…reminded me of home when the neighbor kids would take over the living room and watch the game." He explained. "Mom hated the noise we always made and she'd kick us out at half time."

"What about you, Sidda," Tali asked. "did you like watching games?"

"Oh yeah." She commented. "When I finally got to Earth I saw a lot more of them." she added and her eyes settled on Garrus. "Garrus, you look bored."

"I am bored." The Turian replied. Garrus wasn't one for sports, he didn't mind watching it.

Tali chuckled to Garrus' boredom. "Tyr gets worked up when watching sports." she continued as Nov gave her a beer and a straw. She would need to filter it but she would enjoy the drink.

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Sidda asked and Nov chuckled.

"No he does." Nov added, he'd watched many games with him and knew better. "He just likes getting more riled up because you pissed him off." He sniped to Sidda.

* * *

The next morning bad news came from the _Normandy_. Things had gone wrong and immediately soured Sidda's mood.

"What the hell happened? How did the Collectors find you?" Sidda demanded as Joker sat on the edge of the table in the Comm Room. The IFF test was a catastrophic failure as it broadcasted their location to the Collectors. Miranda, Legion, Joker and EDI managed to fend them off and expel the remaining uninvited guests but the cost was still great, they'd lost several crewmembers.

"When we plugged in the IFF it began broadcasting our location."

"No one thought to check that first?" Sidda admonished to everyone including Garrus.

"It's no one's fault, Sid." Garrus interjected and patted the pilot's shoulder. "No one saw it coming."

" _Garrus is correct, Shepard,"_ EDI added as her icon popped up. _"the harmful data in the Collector drive was even more sophisticated than the black box reaper virus' I was given."_

"There was no way to know of the corruption until it was activated, Shepard-Commander, we were prepared to defend against automated hacking not a location broadcast." Legion added. The Geth had apparently been absolutely instrumental in repelling the Collectors and saving Miranda's life.

"What about unshackling an AI?" Sidda commented sourly still thoroughly irritated.

"We didn't have a choice; if we did nothing we could have lost the entire ship let alone the crew." Mirada defended. Her view on the matter made Sidda pause and take note. She wasn't really angry at her crew, they did what they could, she was angry that none of this was going as planned.

"EDI cleared the ship she's okay." Joker said as EDI assured Sidda and the rest of the present crew that her protocols were still in place.

"And the IFF?" Garrus asked trying to steer the conversation in a better way. Sidda was grumpy and understandably so, the mission was going to be hard enough anyway, now she'd lost crew members like Chambers, Chakwas, Donnelly, and Daniels.

Sidda folded her arms across her chest and tried to remember that none of this was intentional. Just bad luck. "Scrubbed clean and integrated. We can go through the Omega 4 Relay whenever you want?" the pilot answered.

"Head back to the cockpit." She requested with a sigh and a gentler tone. "Get everyone back on board."

Joker carefully got off the table and nodded. "I'm sorry, Commander."

Sidda's scowl softened. "You guys did all you could. It wasn't your fault."

Joker, Legion, and Miranda left and Sidda leaned forward on the table; her side still ached from the trauma to it lately. "Why me, Garrus, why me?"

"Because you're the only one crazy enough to pull it off." He replied.


	14. Chapter 14: Horrible Bosses

_**Note: Sorry about the delay. My Beta and I were having scheduling issues so that being said this one is not proofed. If there are more errors than usual that would be why...I'm just the talent...she's the smart one.**_

 _ **I kinda went my own way for this part because I don't like just copying the game, I hope all of you enjoy this...it's all original and I've brought a few characters in a bit early and expanded on another.**_

 _ **Thank you for the favorites, follows, and reviews. As always, please keep them coming.**_

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Chapter Fourteen: Horrible Bosses**

Nov left the Citadel on the _Normandy_ once the ship was cleaned up and settled from its run in the Collectors. He hadn't actually disobeyed Sparatus' order of 'No more _Normandy_ ' as his Council mission actually sent him to Omega. What better way to get there than to hitch a ride with his girl. To say that he didn't like the idea of her going through with her mission without him was an understatement but no matter how many times he asked on the trip from the Citadel her answer was still no. She'd healed from her Krogan run in though it was still tender and from Toombs' gift though that left an unsightly spider web like burn scar on the side of her neck.

He twirled her dogtags on his right forefinger while lying on the bed in her cabin. Sidda was in the bathroom and could see her looking at her reflection and rubbing the new scar on her neck. No one liked scars but that one bothered her. Maybe it was the manner in which it was acquired.

"Doesn't matter how many scars you have you're still beautiful." He called as the chain wrapped tightly around his finger. She gave them to him, the same thing she'd done for Victus and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Sidda gave him a look, the look of someone who didn't believe him. "Sid, will you stop…now come here."

Sidda grumbled. A spider web looking burn on the side of her neck irritated her but it wasn't because of how it looked, it still…hurt. She told the doctors but they told her that it was all in her head. She heeded Nov's call and got back in bed, they would be notified when they got to Omega so for now they still had time.

"Hey-…" he began and she cut him off sharply.

"If you ask to come with me on this mission one more time you are going to be sleeping in the hall." She stated and Nov laughed.

"Uhh…I wasn't but good to know you're grumpy." He replied. "Guess I have more work to do to put you in a better mood."

Sidda fell silent and felt like a heel. He didn't let any of it bother him though, Sidda was strong and independent…that was how he liked his females. "I'm sorry." She apologized and snuggled tighter to him.

"Why are they called Dog Tags?"

Sidda blinked, odd question. "They look like animal identification tags back on Earth." She said. "Dogs are a pet."

"Yes, I know that…just seems an odd thing to call it."

" _Shepard, we are approaching Omega. Estimated time to arrival is 15 minutes."_ EDI reported and they both groaned.

"What are you doing on Omega anyway?" Sidda asked as they both started to get dressed.

"Spectre business, Baby."

Sidda's expression narrowed. "I'm a Spectre. Hell, I was a Spectre before you were."

Nov chuckled softly. "Yeah but they don't like you very much right now." He told her and she threw a sock at him.

* * *

Every time he came to Omega it was worse than the time before. Last time he was here he was chasing an Ardak-Yakshi and he understood why Garrus turned into Omega's Most Wanted to try to make things better for the innocent. Looking for Batarian intelligence was not his idea of fun but in all honesty he'd rather take his chances with that then be anywhere near Afterlife. So far his mission was a bust, he was going to be here a while. Sidda used the time to arm the _Normandy_ with as much firepower as possible.

"I have given a name to my pain," Nov began as he met Sidda at the docks. "and that name is Omega."

"It's an acquired taste." Sidda replied with a chuckle and Nov scoffed loudly.

"Some things even I don't want to taste." He responded. Sidda had to get going, the Galactic Core wasn't going anywhere but they couldn't put it off any longer. He begged her to let him go along but she refused. Her suicide squad was enough. "Please let me go with you."

"No. You stay here." She said decisively and handed him a chip. "If I…" she began and then trailed off before just cutting to the chase. "give this to Adrien." Nov hesitated before taking. "Please."

He took it and tucked it away for safety and sighed. "Sid, you're-…"

"Just in case." She cut him off. The chip had two letters on it, one for Adrien and one for her mother. "I'll come back." She promised and put a hand on his cheek.

"You better." He said and pulled her close. "I love you."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay here?" she asked changing the subject. "I mean it is Omega."

"I'm a Spectre, I can handle it." He winked with all the bravado a Turian male could have.

Her eyes narrowed. "Why do I get the feeling that my mission is going to be a walk in the park compared to whatever it is that you are doing?" she commented and he chuckled.

Any mission to Omega usually went wrong so he was betting that she was right. "Probably because it will be."

Nov still hadn't revealed his mission but if it had ties to Omega it probably wasn't good. "I knew it…I'm gonna be rescuing you before the day is out."

"I will happily play the damsel in distress just so long as you are there to rescue me." He said hoping against it all that he would see her again.

"Sidda," Garrus interrupted. "we're ready to go."

He had to let her go. He hated it. "Come back to me."

"I will." She told him and he scooped her into a tight embrace as she kissed him.

He let her go and she disappeared through the airlock. "Garrus," Nov began and the Turian paused before being the last one on the ship. "you come back and she doesn't I'll kill you."

Garrus wasn't offended or even mad about his comment. Garrus experienced the loss of a dear friend when she died and he wasn't about to do that twice. He nodded to the Spectre and headed in. Nov hated this. He hated letting her leave without him.

As the _Normandy_ departed Nov could feel someone behind him, Omega had a way of making people grow eyes in the back of their heads. He turned to see a Batarian approaching. He was average for a Batarian but it was the way he carried himself. Possibly military trained but definitely a seasoned mercenary.

"Aria T'Loak wants to see her secret 'enforcer'." He said sounding more bored than anything else.

"Come again?" Nov asked keeping his body language threatening.

The Batarian was not amused by having to repeat what Nov heard plain as day. "Get to Afterlife, Spectre Nov." he repeated and Nov straightened slightly. "Yeah, we know. Callus Nov, newly inducted Council Spectre…you're not as subtle as you think. Afterlife, now."

Nov wasn't looking for a fight but he'd settle one if he had to. "Pass. I don't take orders from her."

The Batarian canted his head. Nov may have been a new Spectre but he had a reputation already. "Stubborn Turians…my instructions are to bring you. I can do it with you kicking and screaming if you prefer."

Nov grumbled and was tempted to challenge the Batarian to try but something told him that this Batarian would give him a run for his money. "Fine."

Afterlife was loud, a little too loud for his taste, he enjoyed clubs like this and before Sidda came into his life he'd probably be hip deep in Asari right now. He was lead past the bars, dancers, and then several guards both the meant to be seen kind and the not meant to be seen kind. When he got to the Pirate Queen of Omega she had her back to him and he appraised her shape. Aria had to be the most attractive Asari he'd ever seen, curves in all the right places. Samara nearly stopped his heart but he could feel the danger from Aria and part of him loved it. She was little more than a mob boss and she was protected by at least six guards all the time. He surveyed the room he was brought to and remained as threatening as possible. If they attacked him he could take a few but not all of them, hopefully, it wasn't that kind of meeting.

Aria turned face him looking him up and down not trying to hide any of it. Nov was appealing to the eye and she'd had enough Turian males to know that he was as handsome as they came. The Rylo red colony paint stood out against his black armor but the most noticeable thing about him was actually his amber eyes. "Well, well, well," Aria said as the Turian guard to his right scanned him. "if it isn't the enforcer I didn't even know I had."

Nov listened but swatted the hand of the Turian trying to take his Mattock and Phalanx. He drew the pistol and aimed it at the Turian. "My weapons stay with me, thank you."

"Let him keep them." Aria said and her guards disbursed back to their stations. "So…you are Callus Nov." she continued. "Nice to officially meet you."

The last time they met it for a matter of seconds as Sidda got what she needed from Aria then left. "What do you want, Aria?" He said and moved up to the top of the steps. There was a Batarian on his left and a Turian on the right. If they were on the dais they were the best she had and he noted that.

She took a step closer to him appraising him like he was on an auction block. "What I want to know is why you feel that you know me well enough to declare my name in your conversation." She rebutted and Nov gave a single nod.

"It necessary and it worked. I do apologize though."

"Nothing happens on Omega that I don't know about. You must be a very effective liar." She went on but then paused deciding that the ability to bluff wasn't it. "Or rather intimidating…I can see why Shepard is smitten with you."

Nov didn't want to talk about Sidda with this bitch. "Is there something you want from me, Aria?" he asked trying to get to the point. She gestured for him to sit but he shook his head. "I'll stand."

"Suit yourself." She replied and sat down in the center looking like a Queen. "As my enforcer I have a job for you."

Nov normally enjoyed playing games with beautiful females but he got the distinct impression that he didn't want to tangle with this one. "I don't work for you, Aria."

"Oh, see, that's where you are wrong. I can make life _very_ difficult for a lone Spectre on Omega; lots of people would to horrible things if they knew you didn't have protection."

"Don't threaten me." He growled. "I know everyone is supposed to be terrified of you but rest assured that I'm not. I don't work for you so don't pretend that I do."

Aria let out a giggle. "Oh I do like you. Cal is it?" she said with a smile that actually made her look pretty. "Your little stunt in VIP caused me a lot of problems with Jaruut."

"I'm still going with 'Not my fucking problem'." He said and clearly annoyed both Aria and the Batarian who brought him in.

"Oh but it is, Cal," she replied and looked to the Batarian. "Bray." The Batarian brought up a recording on his Omni-tool and Nov was ready to start a bloodbath right there. Someone caught them kissing and his blood boiled. "You will do exactly as I say or not only will your life as a Spectre on Omega become impossible but there are a lot of people who would pay an enormous sum for a dead Spectre as famous as your girlfriend."

Nov growled as stepped toward her in a very threating matter. "Don't fuck with me, Aria." He snarled loudly. Loud enough and threatening enough to make the dais guards nervous. "You or your goons put one hand on Sidda and I will kill you slowly."

Aria giggled, it infuriated Nov but he kept his cool. She could threaten him all day and he could care less but Sidda was off limits. Period. "Do as I say and you have nothing to worry about." Nov's mandibles clicked but he backed off. "I have a shipment that needs an escort. Low profile so as not to draw attention but I need the best."

"Aria, you have enough men on this station to hold Palaven, why do you need me?"

She laughed, hawked actually. "I don't _need_ you, I _want_ you."

It was all about power and control, Aria wanted to dominate him and shy of killing her or taking his chances he didn't have much recourse. "Fine." He growled though his displeasure was unmistakable.

"Excellent." She smiled. "Meet with Gavorn outside Afterlife…he has the details."

Nov dealt with this new 'job' with a loud irritated sigh as he made his way out of Afterlife. He was mad and he seemed to project it since everyone left him the hell alone. Gavorn was his target; the Turian Sidda had mentioned the last time he was there. He was familiar, very familiar but just like before he still couldn't place him.

"Gavorn?" he asked abruptly and the Turian looked him up and down before answering.

"You must be the conscript Bray mentioned." He said and Nov blinked not for what he said but it was the voice. He knew that voice.

"I know you." Nov said as he tried to place the face and the voice. "How do I know you?"

Gavorn canted his head and figured it out quicker than Nov did. "Callus Nov." he said and a slight smile. "Engineering superstar of class DD2103. I'd know that Rylo paint anywhere."

Suddenly, it clicked and laughed for the first time since his meeting with Aria he laughed. "Preitor! Spirits! I didn't recognize you. Man, you got tall."

"My height didn't stop me from kicking your ass every day." Gavorn grinned and shook his hand. At the Decca Installation and then the academy Gavorn was a good head shorter than everyone else, couple that with the fact that he was a barefaced Turian and Gavorn was relentlessly teased. Teased or not he was a great marksman and fairly good at hand to hand. "What do you say we get this show on the road?"

* * *

Gavorn piloted the skycar to the warehouse location; Nov quietly observed him and wondered just what would have brought him here. He was a terrific marksman and had a promising future. He was employed by Aria and seemed to have been for a long time.

"So what are you doing here?" Nov asked remembering that OCS overlooked him for an officer but Special Ops wanted his marksmanship.

Gavorn quietly responded. "I was dishonorably discharged."

"Why?"

He wasn't ashamed of it; military life would never have suited him, too many rules. "Struck a General."

Nov nearly laughed. "Seriously?"

He chuckled to the response as the skycar gently touched down in a district of Omega that most horror vids began at. "Remember that problem with authority I had…it didn't get any better." He said with a chuckle.

He struck a superior officer and was dishonorably discharged, there had to be brig time in there as well but he didn't push. "Nice." He replied remembering that Gavorn was quiet but a bit of a hot head.

Nov copied Gavorn as he checked his weapons after getting out of the car. "What about you? What have you been up to?" Gavorn asked casually.

"I'm a Spectre." He replied flatly.

"Wow. What was that DI at Decca's name? The one who nearly broke your arm?"

Nov had not so fond memories of that asshole and remembered every detail about him right down to the synthetic mandible on the right. "Arless."

That was it and he nodded remembering how much of hardass he was. "He must be spitting glass right now. You, the snarky, stubborn, tech genius that gave him a run for his money is a fucking Spectre." Gavorn chuckled and Nov did as well when he thought of it. "Mate? Family? Kids?"

He followed Gavorn to a warehouse. "No kids. Family is about the same. No mate…but I got my eye on one."

"Oh really?"

Nov hadn't stopped thinking about Sidda off on her Suicide mission. He could say one thing; this took his mind off that for a bit. "Yeah. She's perfect. Keeps me on my toes."

"And she is reason Aria has you in a vice." He deduced quickly and Nov didn't hide it but the surprise on his face was evident. "I've worked for Aria a long time…I know how she operates."

Nov took a misstep and thought of the ways he'd kill that Asari bitch. He wouldn't forget that she threatened Sidda. Ever.

The warehouse was average but knowing Omega it wouldn't stay that way for long. The security was top notch and inside there were crates upon crates stuffed with all kinds of goodies no doubt.

"No guards?" he asked.

"Security system and lots of Mechs." Gavorn replied. "And it's Aria's warehouse."

"So what exactly do you do for Aria?" he asked noticing the sniper rifle he carried, a modified Viper that looked like it had been through the mill a few times.

"Pest control. I keep the Vorcha population down to a dull roar. Full time job most of the time but Shepard killed about a million of them and gave me a bit of reprieve."

"Shepard huh? She is lovely at that isn't she?" he commented and Gavorn paused.

"So she's the one." Gavorn noted then smiled. "I like her. Good choice."

Nov wasn't looking for his approval but nodded to it. He missed Sidda and was still worried but returned to the task at hand. There was a transport in the middle of the warehouse floor and grouping of crates looking like they were ready to be loaded. Gavorn tapped a few things on his Omni-tool and the warehouse mechs sprang to life. "So we're loading it into this and then flying to the location? Why am I here? Why are _we_ here?"

Gavorn scoffed. "She's got something on you and wants you to do her bidding. She's done it to me."

"I have far more important things to do then this." He bitched remembering his Batarian fact finding mission that he was nowhere near done with. The shipment unlocked with a command from Gavorn's Omni-tool and the Mechs began loading it. Nov didn't see right away what happened next.

A bright light blinded him but he could hear the distinct sound of overload hitting all the warehouse mechs. "Preitor!" he shouted as his vision slowly returned. He saw a figure launch a biotic attack in Preitor's last known location. Nov still couldn't see well but he saw a figure that was out of place and fired his Mattock at it. Something hit its target because he heard a gun then the figure launched for him and managed to disarm the impressive weapon. After the Mattock skittered to the floor he blocked the physical attack in an effective manner. He halted his movement, crossed his arms in front of him the attack broke on the block. After that he attacked and managed to disarm her and he got his first solid look. The hooded lithe figure was definitely a female Turian and she was good. During the fight he managed to flip the hood back and got a look at her before she kicked him in the face hard enough to nearly knock him out. She was a biotic that was the only way a kick like that would have knocked him flat.

When his head cleared the Turian female was gone as was the cargo and the ship. He heard Gavorn moving around and groaned. His nose was bleeding and face hurt from the kick. "What the hell was that?"

Gavorn picked himself up off the warehouse floor and shook his head sharply. "Fucking Nyreen Kandros." He answered and surveyed the damage. It looked like a mech salvage yard, they were all in pieces and worse…the cargo _and_ transport were gone. "Fuck me." He cursed.

That didn't answer his question entirely. "Who the hell is Nyreen Kandros…beside the person who just made off with the stuff?" Nov asked and got up off the ground. Whoever she was she was damn effective. She incapacitated both of them and took off within minutes.

"A pain in the fucking ass," Gavorn answered with an irritated tone. "Aria's ex-girlfriend too."

There was the curve and he turned back to him. "Ehh?"

"Yeah I know." He added checking the sniper rifle that had been swatted away.

"Another plot twist brought to you by the Pirate Bitch of Omega." Nov complained loudly. "What are we gonna do now?"

"Oh, we're gonna find it." Gavorn said. "If we go back to Aria and tell her Nyreen stole her haul out from under us she'll kill us both."

"We'll be able to track the transport." Nov thought and Gavorn shrugged.

"Not the transport she'll just yank the transponder. The shipment." He told him and tapped a few things on the Omni-tool then sent it to Nov's. "You're the techy."

Nov's Omni-tool lit up and he went to work. To most the things scrolling across his screen was another language. The language of an engineer but Nov read it better than his native Turian. "Tagged the shipment?"

"After the fiasco with Archangel Aria started double tagging all her stuff." He said and Nov tapped a few things on his Omni-tool. The upgraded device sorted through the data in seconds, there was a reason why Nov's Omni-tool was illegal nearly everywhere.

"Won't she just disable it?" he asked as the Omni-tool flicked a few times as it tracked its target.

"She'll try." He replied as Nov found the shipment before Gavorn was done talking.

"Got it."

That was faster than he'd expected. "Damn, you are legendary with tech."

Nov chuckled, this was small potatoes. "Remind me to tell you of the time I hacked my way through a Batarian base." He said and the Omni-tool beeped after locating its target.

"Fantastic." Gavorn muttered looking at the indicated mark. "Vorchaville."

"Thought my girl cleared them all out for you?" Nov asked with a grin.

* * *

Gavorn was a great guide, he knew Omega like the back of his hand and the area they were heading to was infested with gangs and Vorcha. When Archangel thinned the mercenary horde the minor gangs went crazy. The problem was that they were going right into the center of the commotion, deeper than the Gozu district and far more dangerous.

"I think we should be coming into this joint with an army." Nov commented and Gavorn chuckled.

"Nah, we'll be alright." Gavorn said and Nov scoffed. "What happened to your sense of adventure?"

"It died horribly after I got shot a few times on 'adventures'." He replied and Gavorn chuckled.

"You may want to put that helmet on; anonymity will suit a Spectre in here. They get wind of who you are you won't even make it to the dock." Gavorn suggested and Nov nodded in agreement. Gavorn could go in there disguised as a God and they'd still know who he was. It was the price of infamy. Just as Sidda couldn't go three feet without someone identifying her.

Gavorn never told him with the name of the district was that they were going to but it was clearly Vorcha. Just like the Ward arms on the Citadel, Omega had its segregated areas. It was dirty and probably smelled but Nov didn't pay much attention to that. He didn't know Omega like Gavorn did and if the Vorcha could get them the answers they needed he followed along.

The Vorcha scurried away when they saw them, Gavorn mostly. "They must know you." Nov commented and Gavorn shrugged.

"Usually when they see me I come with men and then there's a lot of death that follows." Gavorn replied and Nov gave him a look he didn't see from behind the helmet. Gavorn had changed considerably since they first met; he was colder now and very dangerous.

"Hey, wait, wait…that's the transport." Nov pointed out as they happened on the ship right where Nov's tracker said the shipment was.

"Why would she ditch it?" Gavorn inquired as Nov followed his Omni-tool to a device on the floor behind the transport. The shipment was gone and he cursed. "What's that?"

Nov snorted and picked the palm sized device up. "That's your tracker." He said and Gavorn grumbled. "Looks like she's smarter than you thought." Gavorn cursed but while he was cursing he thinking of what to do now. "So what now? Time to go home?"

Gavorn shot him a look and scoffed. "No. No, come on. Further in to Vorcha territory…there's someone who may know where she is."

Vorcha were disgusting creatures, Goblins as Aria called them, and it was Gavorn's job to make sure they didn't over-populate. Vorcha bred like rabbits or insects. Gavorn found the nest he was looking for and his target. Skreeth was a leader of sorts among the Vorcha, Gavorn left him alone so long as he kept the Vorcha in line. Sometimes it didn't work and sometimes it did.

"Skreeth!" Gavorn barked and the Vorcha scattered when they saw him. Two Turians in this area could only mean one thing, one of those Turians was Gavorn and that caused more panic. "Stop moving!" he barked to the panicking brood.

"What do you want? We pay our tax." Skreeth hissed.

"I'm looking for someone. Get over here." Gavorn's tone wasn't friendly.

The Vorcha was cautious but moved toward him. "We not cause trouble. You leave, now!"

"Nyreen Kandros. Where is she?" he demanded and the Vorcha hissed at him.

"How should we know?" He snapped back. "We not give you information, we give you enough." Gavorn grabbed him and slammed him into the wall.

Nov pulled his pistol and the rest of Skreeth's brood stopped leery of the Turian in black armor with an activated Omni-tool. "I wouldn't." he warned simply.

The Vorcha hissed as Gavorn jacked him up against the wall. "Skreeth, tell me where Nyreen is right now. You know everything that goes on down here."

The Vorcha didn't care and he hissed back. "We not tell you. We know your tricks!" the Vorcha responded and Gavorn gave him a hard thump for the incorrect answer.

"Tell me where Nyreen is or I will burn this entire shithole to the ground, you included." He threatened and Nov simply watched making sure Gavorn was protected. Gavorn had to be effective in his job, the number of Vorcha could easily overwhelm him but they didn't. They were too afraid of Gavorn.

"We tell you, you kill us anyway." Skreeth replied. Nov cocked his head slightly to listen, Gavorn was a hard ass apparently. "Make you deal: we tell you, you leave us be."

"Done." He agreed quickly. "Now talk."

Skreeth snarled at him but answered. "Talons. Look for Bossier tag, Nyreen will be there."

That didn't make any sense and he cocked his head. "Talons? Nyreen's not a drug dealer." Skreeth had to be wrong.

The Vorcha growled at him. "That is where she is, now keep your bargain."

Gavorn tightened his grip on the creature. "If you're lying, you die." He threatened and then released him. "Let's go." Nov was still covering his back and they vacated the nest quickly.

Outside, Gavorn didn't want to sit still too long so they walked quickly. "Talons?" Nov inquired as he paced him.

"They're a minor gang. Drug lords, gun runners, slavers…why would Nyreen be mixed up with them?" he thought out loud as they reached the skycar.

Pretty much anyone one Omega was a criminal and Nov didn't find drug lords, gun running, and slave trading to be too far-fetched. "It's Omega."

Gavorn shook his head and he brought up his Omni-tool and flicked through the files. "Nyreen's not a pirate…she another Archangel."

Nov expression narrowed behind his helmet. "And she was with Aria? How'd that happen?"

"Drama. Lots of drama." He replied.

This was just getting better and better and Nov grumbled. "Fantastic."

* * *

The Talon hideout that Skreeth was referring to known to all of Aria's hirelings it belonged to a Talon Lieutenant named Bossier, for as minor as the Talons were they were a bit of a headache. They were drug dealers mostly and were responsible for most of the Red Sand that passed through the station. Unlike the quality that the Eclipse dealt the Red Sand the Talons had was far more dangerous; poor quality, deadly, and addictive.

"So what? You're just going to walk up and knock on the door?" Nov asked and Gavorn scoffed.

"No. You're gonna use your legendary tech skills and let us in."

Nov liked the sound of that. It didn't matter the security system, he could hack it. He modified a Turian security protocol and could now enter pretty much anything he wanted…anything. Technically his program was illegal and he could have been court-martialed for having it but now as a Spectre he could do whatever he wanted to with it. He grinned behind the helmet and nodded. "Sounds like a plan to get in but once we're in then what?"

"Nothing a Spectre can't handle."

He paused. "I think you overestimate my combat skills, Preitor." Cerrus was the one who could walk through it all without a care in the world.

Gavorn gave him a sly smile. "How does someone who bitches this much become a Spectre?"

* * *

The attack on the Talon hideout was shockingly easy, they were taken by surprise and between Gavorn and Nov they didn't stand a chance. The hardest target was Nyreen and she was right where Skreeth said she was. The objective was to capture her but that was easier said than done.

Nov had encountered many, many tough opponents over the years but Nyreen had to be in the top ten. He wound up engaging in close combat with her again but this time he was on his game not caught off guard. His Mattock did him no good in this situation so he used the Phalanx right up to the point of actually capturing her. She was a Sentinel and hit him with an overload that shut down his shields and his Phalanx.

Nyreen couldn't see his face but knew this was the red faced one from the warehouse. He didn't seem like one of Aria's men and she hadn't seen him around Omega before. Gavorn she knew but the one in black was her concern. She pegged him as having extensive military training as he matched her every move bringing them to a sort of stalemate until Gavorn attacked her giving him the distraction he needed to capture her. He wrestled her arms behind her back and she used Nov as leverage to kick Gavorn in the face. The sniper really should have followed his own advice for Nov about the helmet.

Gavorn cradled his face as Nyreen's solid kick bloodied his mouth and nose. "Fucking ow!" he cursed but it was muffled behind his hands.

"Oh, no, no, no," Nov hissed in her ear as she struggled against him. "I'm still reeling from our last encounter, sweetheart. Stop!" he barked confirming that this was the red faced one she pulled the same move on in the warehouse.

She stilled to his order as Gavorn wiped the blood from his face. "You were a pain in the ass before and you have not changed."

"Still Aria's lap dog, Gavorn?" she taunted while trying to figure an escape from the black ones firm hold. He was tall and damn strong.

Gavorn was not in the mood to play and spit blood onto the floor. "The shipment, Nyreen, where is it?" he ordered harshly but stayed out of striking distance.

"Doesn't matter." She replied and the one behind her spoke up.

"Don't jerk us around it's been a really long day." He growled. Nov was already irritated with Sidda flying off into danger without him and now it was worse with all this bullshit.

She turned her head to the left. "You're not one of her regulars. Who are you?" she asked trying to figure out who this was. He was far to skilled to be one of Aria's men and it had to have been him who defeated the security system and gain access. Gavorn was not a tech; this one had to be an engineer.

Nov was tired of fucking around and gave her the truth. "I'm a Spectre now spit it out." He snapped ignoring the look from Gavorn. Not a good way to maintain anonymity.

The honest answer threw her off and she narrowed her expression. "Since when does Aria have Spectre's on the payroll?" Nyreen asked.

"I'm not." He corrected firmly. "What did you want with those weapons?"

"Why should I tell you?"

Nov adjusted his hands and she felt what he was doing. "I'll break your arm. Tell me. Now."

Nyreen grimaced and felt his hand tighten on her forearm. The technique was simple and widely used for interrogations, Turian bones were hollow but strong and when they broke it really hurt. The pressure built and he heard her stifle the pained groan. "I need them for the Talons." She said finally and Nov released the pressure on her arm.

Gavorn's head canted to her and he took a step closer. "What are you doing with them anyway? The Talons are drug dealers and slaver…last we heard that was a sticking point with you and Aria."

The Vorcha exterminator could run Omega if he bothered to take a look around once in a while. "Talon pecking order has changed a bit Gavorn. Should pull yourself away from slaughtering Vorcha and look around once in a while."

Gavorn blinked and put it together quickly. "You took over the Talons." There was a pause as things he'd seen lately became clear. "That's why they dropped off the face of the map."

"Not all of them. Still have one last Lieutenant to deal with. The rest have moved on, died, or joined my little cause."

"Which is?" Gavorn sound bored with all of this. The Turian was more jaded then Cerrus was and at this point freedom fighters and do-gooders just annoyed the fuck out of him.

"Archangel had it right. The people here who just want to live safe normal lives are brutalized…it needs to stop."

Gavorn rolled his eyes. "Idealists." He scoffed and knew Nov was glaring at him from behind the mask. "It's a nice sentiment…" he explained sounding highly annoyed and bordering on condescending. "impractical but a nice sentiment."

"Do you even live here?" she hissed a little surprised by his view. "How could you say that?"

Gavorn groaned. "Oh enough of this." He grumbled irritably. "I say we collect our stuff and head on out." He said to Nov.

Nov wasn't so sure and didn't reply to Gavorn right away. "I'm gonna let you go. If you fight us I'll let him kill you." He warned and Nyreen remained still. "You take over the Talons what are you going to do with them?"

"Everything Aria doesn't. Everything Archangel tried to do." She replied and Nov stepped around in front of her.

Omega was a deplorable place but Garrus was right. People just trying to get by lived there and things were bad for the weak. Nov had been taught all his life to protect the innocent and the weak. "I'll help you knock out the Talon boss but you have to give me back the guns."

"What?!" Gavorn demanded at the same time she announced her protest.

"What? No deal."

He ignored Gavorn and paid attention to Nyreen. "Look, if you don't give those guns back I'm gonna be under Aria's thumb for the rest of my life and I don't even want to think about what she'd do to my girl."

The reason a Spectre was doing her dirty work became clear, that was just like Aira to hold something over him. Everyone had a price and she was good at finding it. It still didn't help, she needed those weapons which was why she stole them in the first place. "If I give you the guns what am I going to use?"

"I will get you more trust me, but I need those ones back."

"You are not seriously thinking about teaming up with her?" Gavorn asked and Nov nodded.

"Oh boy am I." he replied happily. Aria threatened Sid to get him to comply now he was going to help Nyreen cause problems.

Nyreen chuckled to his gleeful tone. "You really don't like her do you?"

"She fucked with me so I'm gonna screw her anyway I can." He replied. "Figuratively speaking."

Nyreen thought a moment. Gavorn was clearly against this but it seemed the Spectre was running the show and was interested in helping. "You can really get me what I need?" she asked and Nov nodded.

"Spectre remember."

"Deal." She said after a minute and Gavorn grumbled. "So do you have a name?" Nyreen asked the tall Turian in black armor.

He didn't want to give all his information away, being a Spectre he was going to become famous anyway but the greatest benefit for him was that he was new and not many knew him by name or by his face. The Rylo red colony paint was identifiable so he left the helmet on. "Just call me Casanova." He replied trying to think of some kind of nickname. One of the ones Sidda used was the only thing that came to mind.

Gavorn paused and looked at Nyreen. "Really?"

"Good enough for my girl, good enough for me." He replied. "And yes, I know what it means."

* * *

Nyreen fully expected one or both of these Turians to betray her. Her money was on Gavorn even though she knew him better than the other. Gavorn wasn't into helping the helpless, he was a survivor and even though he'd been known to defend random people in Afterlife or just on the street in general he was no hero. If the situation didn't fit quite right he would also do whatever was in his own best interests. To be honest, she was shocked he even went along. The Spectre, currently only known a Casanova, was the real mystery. It was his idea to help her take out the last Talon boss but no one ever did anything just because they could.

For the assault Gavorn remained on higher ground and put his Viper to use, he and the Spectre seemed to know each other so despite his misgivings he did as he was asked. The Spectre hacked the hideouts security system is seconds. Literally. Nyreen had never seen anyone do that before even with Omni-gel and what was even more impressive is that he didn't set off any alarms while doing it. Whoever this Spectre was he was dangerous. The clandestine entry didn't stay that way for too long, someone got a shot off and the gig was up. The Spectre used his assault rifle, yet another impressive weapon, for the majority of the fight but also used a knife for the close quarters. The knife was unique she thought, it didn't look Turian or even Asari and it definitely looked too small for his hand. She remembered some Humans on Omega carried similar ones, military issue boot knives. This Spectre's girl was Human and that was who Aria had threatened.

The remaining Talon Lieutenant was a human male named Kelso, fairly handsome but his gentle look was a deception, he was a despicable man. Murderer, rapist, drug dealer, and a slave trader Kelso was second in command to the Talon boss Sandoval. Nyreen had already raided the main compound and turned it into her domain. Those loyal to her were there already but Kelso was going to be the tough one. Or so she thought. The three of them walked through them. Kelso went against both Nyreen and the Spectre but the nail in the coffin came from Gavorn as he put a round from the Viper through the human's left ear.

"Impressive shot, Preitor." Nov commented as Gavorn approached from his position.

"Hardest part was waiting for you two to get out of the way." He replied with a shrug. "Finished playing hero now?"

"He has such a nice disposition doesn't he?" Nyreen commented as she went through what Kelso had on him. Gavorn didn't reply but did check over a few of the bodies at his feet. They had decent gear so he scavenged it.

Most of what was left after the fight was scavenged and given to Nyreen. The Talon gear was cheap Elkoss Combine crap but it did the trick. "You use this gear for now. I'll make sure you get a better crate of gear soon."

"Are you serious?"

"I told you I'd help. So long as you do what you said you'd do." He told her and Nyreen nodded.

* * *

Aria eyed Nov; the Turian just stood before her and told her that the objective was complete. Something wasn't right about it though. Nov wasn't telling her everything.

"Mission accomplished." He told her. "I've served my penance."

Aria harrumphed; she knew most of what happened on Omega. "Took you and Gavorn a long time to deliver."

"Omega's a busy place." He replied with a flat and irritated tone. "You got what you asked for, Aria. Our business is done."

Aria didn't believe him, something else happened out there but she knew he wasn't going to tell her. "I'll be the judge of that."

Nov rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You don't know when to quit do you?"

"I want to know what all the fuss is about with you. I've seen you walk through Afterlife…they all want you, Shepard is smitten with you…I can see why."

Nov had no interest in her. "Good bye, Aria."

"Until next time, Spectre Nov." she replied as he stepped off the dais and left.

* * *

The _Normandy_ had seen better days but the bottom line was they had survived the galactic core and accomplished their mission. In the aftermath of the fight the crew that wasn't in Medical were busily cleaning up the ship. The frigate took severe structural damage and loose items were now scattered all over the ship.

" _Commander,"_ Joker began over the comm. _"QEC is back online and surprise, surprise; the Illusive Man wants to talk to you."_

Sidda removed her left shoulder from the sling that Chakwas put it in. The sling had been driving her crazy but it felt better when it was resting comfortably in it. Sidda didn't want to give the Illusive Man the satisfaction of seeing her wounded. Garrus and Miranda already were. "I'll be there in a minute."

Thane stood up straight from his position and helped Sidda remove the sling. "How is it?"

"I'll survive." She replied and worked the shoulder. The armor did nothing to help the jolt she got when Legion caught her. "Better than the alternative." The Geth had not been gentle but it saved her life.

Thane was there when the platform destabilized and collapsed. He was there for the sprint to the finish and still had a lingering headache after being beaned in the head by debris. "I'll finish here." He told her and continued cleaning up the mess on the crew deck.

The comm room was still in one piece and Sidda stepped on the QEC platform. There the holographic form of the man she would kill eventually.

" _Should have known you'd be so short-sighted."_ The Illusive Man said with a snarl. Shepard destroyed the Reaper prototype along with the base. Any and all potential data went with it and that didn't make him happy one bit.

"Oh save it." She replied finally done with this Cerberus bullshit. They never changed, they always wanted to grab more than they deserved. Case and point was him trying to convince her to salvage the base, after everything that had happened he wanted to be greedy. "This is going to be my final transmission to you. I knew I couldn't trust you and proved that. All you wanted all along was any and all data you could grab no matter how dangerous it was. That base was an abomination and I am glad I turned it into debris." She stated as the Illusive Man remained silent during her speech. "You are not going to get one scrap of data from that base. You are not getting this ship back. I will take the _Normandy_ off your hands and your Cerberus crew will be returned to you. That's it. That's all you get and you'll never get anything else from me and I dare you to try and take it back." She was tired of all his conniving, Kaidan was right nothing had changed. "End." She ordered and the transmission was cut leaving the Illusive Man to simmer somewhere else in the galaxy.

The QEC disappeared and the table returned. "I take it you heard that, EDI."

The icon popped up as the table set back in its place. _"I did."_ The AI replied.

"And?"

" _You have Tali and Isla poised to disconnect me if I choose to side with Cerberus."_ She said and Sidda nodded. There was no way she could hide that and the fact that EDI had not reacted told her what she needed.

"You can remain operational but if you betray me you'll never see the light of day again." Between Nov, Tali, and Garrus they could manage to shred the unshackled AI and EDI knew it.

There was a pause as the AI seemed to think it over. _"I understand, Shepard, however you needn't worry. You are correct and your actions were correct, the Illusive Man was not."_

Sidda nodded to her and felt the shoulder throb, it needed to go back in the sling sooner rather than later. "Then carry on."

The _Normandy_ limped into dock with Omega. Not the first place they really wanted to land for repairs but this was the safest point they could jump to and still get repairs. Nov scurried to the dock and watched the ship come in…the frigate was heavily damaged but it was _back_. . Pieces were missing from the flight pods and there was visible exterior damage from a glancing beam blast. Sidda had sent a message and he let out a breath he felt like he'd been holding for hours.

"Son of a bitch." Nov commented looked over the damage to the _Normandy_. Severe damaged could be seen from the Omega dock and it was worse in the inside. The cargo bay and flight deck were shredded like something punched a hole or two in it "I'd ask how it went but I think that's fairly evident."

"One piece." Sidda replied tiredly. "For the most part. Miranda and Garrus were wounded, got my missing crew back, Legion saved my ass, and the Illusive Man proved untrustworthy as ever." Nov looked her over; she was moving slowly and was visibly sore.

"What happened?" he asked referring to the left shoulder that was in a sling.

When the platform destabilized Sidda lost her footing and would have gone over the edge had it not been for the Geth catching her. He wasn't exactly gentle. "Legion saved my ass. He was a little rough about it."

"Remind me to thank it." Nov commented and pulled her into an embrace. Her mission was accomplished and he wanted her to be in his life forever. "I'm so glad you're back and safe."

Sidda felt better as he held her gently. "Honestly I was more worried about you being stuck on Omega."

Nov chuckled softly. "I'm tougher than I look." He said and remembered he needed to talk with her about the weapons. Sidda was where he could get the most weapons the quickest and they were far better quality then what Nyreen had stolen. "I hate to talk shop, Baby, but I have a favor to ask."

* * *

Getting the _Normandy_ repaired was going to take some time, no one wanted to be connected to Omega for very long but there wasn't much choice. The damage the Oculus made was the worst part as it compromised the hull to a significant degree. All Sidda wanted was it patched so they could safely return to the Citadel…or even Earth.

To Nov, everyone looked a little roughed up on the ship, even Kasumi who never looked disheveled. Garrus took a round to the shoulder but was more or less okay; Miranda was also wounded but would be just fine. Isla even looked a little banged up as she was cleaning up the armory.

"Looks like everyone had a little bit of fun." Nov commented to her. He noticed bruises forming on her on her right arm under the sleeveless top she was wearing.

"It was a hoot." She replied flatly as her stiff body protested the floor clean up. For most of the mission Isla was with Sidda and Thane. The Sentinel armor saved her more times then she could count in one mission that was the hardest she'd ever been through. She understood now why Garrus' loyalty to Sidda was absolute.

"Glad to know everyone is going to be okay." He said and it was a sincere comment.

"Your girlfriend's a hell of a soldier." she replied and Nov couldn't agree more.

"Yep." He agreed.

"She told me about the weapon crate." Isla said and set the tools she'd picked up back on the table they were supposed to be on. "Can I ask what you need it for?" she asked. Omega was Omega and him asking for a crate full of guns could only have a handful of reasons.

She was fishing. Isla spent more time on Omega then all of them had and probably knew everything about it. "A friend." He replied and she raised an eyebrow.

"Friends don't exist on Omega, Nov." she said. "Who are you mixed up with?"

Nov took a gamble, Isla he believed he could trust. They weren't exactly best friends but he believed she could be trusted. "Nyreen Kandros."

Isla paused and looked at him with a few blinks. "I knew she was still on Omega." Nov cocked his head to the side and Isla shrugged. "I've lived on Omega nearly my entire life. Her cousin saved my ass twice." She said and the mercenary nodded. For Nyreen she'd do as asked.

The hideout Nov was told to deliver the weapons to was easy enough to find, he was met by her men and escorted there. "I have to admit…I thought you'd betray me." Nyreen said as she met the Spectre in black.

"Why would I?"

"There are too few honest people in the world." Nyreen replied and heard Nov snort behind the helmet. He studied her as she opened the crate to check the cargo, her colony paint he didn't recognize and he wondered why she was here. "Alliance weapons?" she asked seeing a hodgepodge of Avengers, Vindicators, Predators, and Tempests.

Nov shrugged. "Mostly. It's all I could grab on short notice. You'll get more so long as you keep your end of it."

Nyreen was shocked to say the least. So far he'd lied or attempted a double cross. "Thank you."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Only if I can ask you one." She answered and repacked the weapons after checking over what was in the crate.

"Okay." He replied.

"Why'd you leave the military?" he asked and she turned back to him.

"Biotic power manifested. They put me on a desk."

"Why not a Cabal unit?" Nov asked still trying to unravel her. He didn't have the time take her to dinner or something to get to know her but he was intrigued by her.

"Wrong skillset." She answered and Nov cocked his head. "At the time…I've grown a little since." She added and Nov chuckled. "Your question…what's your name?"

"I can't tell you that." He said and she gave him a look. "You're gonna have to trust me."

His identity needed to be secret on Omega. It was bad enough that Aria and her inner circle knew his identity. His face was painted red that was all she remembered from the warehouse. "My guardian Spectre."

Nov allowed a smile behind the helmet. "You just watch yourself. If you get into too much trouble let Gavorn know."

Nyreen scoffed. "Gavorn has his Vorcha he doesn't care about any of this."

"He'll be fine. You need anything, let him know, and he'll get it to me." He told her and headed out the way he came.


	15. Chapter 15: Aurora Borealis

_**Note: As always, sorry for the wait. If I didn't have to work I'd be a writing machine. So this part is winding down, only a few more left and then it's onto Mass Effect 3. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and hope you guys like it to. Totally original and some new characters too.**_

 _ **As always, feedback and comment are appreciated.**_

 _ **Please enjoy, Chapter Fifteen: Aurora Borealis**_

 **Mass Effect**  
"Foreign Relations"

 **Chapter Fifteen: Aurora Borealis**

The _Normandy_ had been docked at the Citadel for about a week in lockdown. Sidda effectively stole it from Cerberus so to keep him from getting it back by flipping a switch or override EDI and have her jack it remotely, Joker shut it down. While it was there Anderson ordered that the vessel be repaired but Sidda still hadn't officially turned it over to the Alliance. The Cerberus crew had gone their ways and only a select few remained on the _Normandy_. The ship didn't need a full crew to be operational but it did leave it like a ghost town.

While no longer under Cerberus control the _Normandy_ still flew Cerberus colors which presented a bit of a problem when she arrived in orbit of the Turian colony, Rylo. Despite its size it had a heavy military presence mainly due to its location. When the _Normandy_ arrived it took a little convincing for the garrison to stand down. Nov's Spectre authority was what did it and they were allowed to dock at the orbital station and take a shuttle to the surface from there. The crew was given permission to visit the capital as Sidda and Nov went elsewhere.

Sidda fidgeted in the shuttle, her left leg bounced nervously and she tapped her fingers on the metal of the seat. Nov, seated on her right, looked down at her and must have looked at her bouncing leg and tapping fingers long enough for her to look at him. "Do you mind? You're driving me crazy." She stopped abruptly and was still for about five seconds before starting to bite her fingernails. "Sid, will you stop fidgeting?"

She stopped chewing on her nails and felt like she wanted to bounce her leg some more. "Sorry." She said and he took her right hand.

Nov found her behavior sweet and endearing. Seeing her nervous over meeting his mother allowed him to see normal Sidda, not world ending Sidda, he enjoyed it. "You have nothing to be nervous about. She's gonna love you." He told her and Sidda scoffed derisively.

"Why is it that all sons say the same thing and are totally clueless? No woman is good enough for their baby boy, Cal." She said and Nov chuckled.

"You are." He said and she blushed. "She'll see that too. Just relax."

Rylo was the smallest Turian colony with just under a million inhabitants but it had a massive military presence. It was also beautiful, rolling green fields, orchards of trees, a mountain range in the distance, and blue skies. It was beautiful and reminded her of Earth.

"A lot of military around." Sidda commented as they got off the shuttle and moved through the spaceport in Rylo's capital Rosha.

"The colonies location makes it prime for pirates and raiders. Rylo produces the most food for the empire than any other colony and they _really_ protect it." He explained.

"This little rock?"

"Yes, this little rock…very special little rock."

* * *

Nov flew the skycar out of the city and for what seemed to be about two hours. All Sidda saw was farm after farm and miles and miles of farming fields. The tiny little farmstead Nov was from was called Panop, the town had less than 500 people in it and it was located 200 miles from anything else.

"Wow, you really are a farm boy." She commented as he landed in the car in the driveway behind a beefy looking rover that reminded Sidda of a compact Mako but with only four wheels.

"My parents did all they could to make me into a farmer. I do have an enormous amount of knowledge of horticulture, agriculture, and botany." He said as the door opened. "Then I joined the military and I knew that's what I wanted to do."

"Honestly, I can't see you as a farmer." She said and Nov chuckled.

Farming wasn't exactly his cup of tea but he didn't mind it. "You might be surprised. Agricultural engineer is actually what I would have gone for." He told her and Sidda smiled, learning more and more about Nov was nice. "I spent the majority of my childhood working on the irrigation systems, solar systems, harvesters…"

"Did not expect that." She said with a smile and Nov snorted. "Farm Boy."

The house looked like a modernized, scaled down version of a Roman villa. The house wasn't too big but big enough for Sidda. She'd spent most of her adult life on ships and when she was a kid there was only one house she actually lived in. Everything else were apartments or quarters on stations and ships.

"Mom?" Nov called as he walked through the house. Nothing had really changed except some furniture had been moved around. "Mom, you here?" he called again when he got no response.

"Study." He heard from across the house and followed the voice.

Sidda walked into a florist's paradise. Flowers of all types decorated the house adding to its already bright and homey feel. It was a single level with a very open floor plan and a lot of space, Nov's mother was disabled so the space and the ramps made sense. Nov navigated the house like he'd never left it and found his mother in the study. That used to be where his father hung out all the time but after he died his mother turned it into her research study.

"Callus." His mother smiled as she turned her wheelchair toward him. "Welcome home."

He leaned down and gave his mother a hug; she was confined to a wheelchair just as Nov had mentioned but it didn't seem to slow her down at all. She had a grey skin tone that was a bit lighter then Garrus', the same red paint as Nov's and striking grey eyes. Sidda didn't pretend to know what was attractive in regards to a female Turian but she thought that his mother was very pretty.

Nov took a step back from her and looked to Sidda. "Mom, this is Sidda Shepard. Sid, this is my mother Auriga."

"Auri." She instructed and extended her hand to the human woman who was nearly a foot shorter than her son. "It's really good to finally meet you."

"You too."

"You are exactly as he described." She told her and looked the human up and down. Despite being nervous she carried herself with confidence, Sidda was also clearly a soldier with the scars to prove it. Her son was a flirt and had many girlfriends but to this day had never brought a girl home since he left for boot camp.

"Oh really?" Sidda blushed.

"Yes. Last time he was home he chatted my ear off about you." She said and Nov looked down at the floor. It wasn't his finest moment but he needed to talk to someone and that someone was his mother. "He also said you were involved in an accident and everyone believed you were dead."

Sidda enjoyed how straight forward his mother was. She knew that Nov was in love with her and wanted to know if she was worthy of it. "That's a very long story." She said honestly.

Auriga nodded. "I look forward to hearing it. Come on, let's talk in the solarium." She said and moved the chair forward and through the house. "Callus, you do remember where the tea is? Bring us some please." Nov nodded and was halfway to the kitchen before Sidda spoke up.

"Umm… I don't…I mean I can't drink…" Sidda began and didn't finish the sentence after know how stupid it would should to tell them that she couldn't eat dextro food.

Auriga chuckled before she finished. "Don't worry I have both."

"The beauty about this colony is that it grows dextro and levo food. It's another reason why it's so damn important. You didn't think I'd let you go hungry did you?" Nov said and gave her a wink. Sidda blush and his mother chuckled.

The Solarium was beautiful and lined with all manner of plants, flowers mostly, that filled the air was a gentle sweet fragrance. Perfect amount of windows gave it so much light there was no need for artificial lighting. This had to be one of the prettiest houses Sidda had ever been in. "So, Sidda, tell me about you." Auriga began asked as she gestured for Sidda to sit on the couch. "Callus told me you come from a military family."

Sidda tried not to feel like she was sitting down for a job interview. "Yeah, both my parents were career military. My father retired about 7 years ago and…passed away last year, and my mother's an Admiral."

Auriga had always been good at reading people. She was very observant it was something people didn't notice about her until she had you figured out every little detail. "Only child?"

"Yeah."

"So was his father…Tiber. I would have liked to have had more but circumstances prevented me. So I doted on that one." She confessed and smiled to her son bring in the tray of tea and all its fixings.

Sidda gave Nov a sweet smile and he arranged everything on the table between the couch and where his mother was situated. "Must be why he turned out so well."

This was embarrassing and Nov blushed to a point that they could both see it. "Oh yeah, this was a good idea." He muttered and sat down.

They chuckled and went back to talking. "Callus tells me you served on a Turian ship?"

Sidda nodded. "I was assigned to the _Lante_ , part of a Turian and Human training program to help relations." Sidda said as she put some sugar in the tea and sniffed it. Some kind of black tea she thought but it had a hint of blueberry scent to it. "Tough assignment…I don't think I would have made it without him and a few others."

His mother giggled and saw him sit next to her. Body language told her a lot; he sat close to her without actually touching her, trying to be respectful. He really did like her. "He's always had a soft spot for outsiders. The first girl he ever brought home was when he was 14, a Batarian girl…what was her name?"

Part of him groaned, he wasn't ashamed of it but he knew Sidda would tease him. "Trina." He answered quickly and caught the look from Sidda in his peripheral vision.

"Your first girlfriend was a Batarian? I didn't know that." She grinned with friendly teasing. She knew she'd barely scratched the surface of his romantic history.

He knew her all too well. "You never asked." He replied with a wink.

They were cute together. "So was it love at first sight?" she beamed.

"No." Sidda answered quickly remembering fondly the beating he gave her. Nov gave her a look for the rapid response. "He actually was the first one to clean the floor with me in a sparring match."

It was true and he caught the look from his mother. "Yeah but you didn't back down."

His mother looked from him to her still judging the Human that she liked so far. "Did you return the favor?"

The tea was good, not as bitter as some Black Teas. "Yes I did." She replied proudly.

Auriga grinned. "Good." She said and winked to her son. "He needs a female who's not afraid to push him around. He's a lot like his father that way." Nov didn't like that comparison and she knew it. She ignored the look he gave her and went on about her observations. "So, Sidda…would you like to help me cook dinner?"

"I can put dinner together, Ma, you don't have to." He said and she waved him off.

"No, Callus, we can handle that. The solar tower outside could use your particular talents."

Nov nodded with a smile as he and Sidda stood. "Alright, I'll take care of it." He said with a smile and patted Sidda's arm. "Back in a bit."

* * *

Most everything on Rylo's farms ran on solar or wind power and even Rosha had a generous amount of solar and wind generators for its main power source. Nov had been working on his parents solar and wind power grids since he was old enough to read engineering plans and was delighted to see that someone had replaced the old system. He wasn't sure who but as he examined it he appreciated the professional work. He scanned it with his Omni-tool and let it build him a detailed plan.

"The coil doesn't like the dust." A voice called drawing his attention to a Quarian coming across the lane. "That one hasn't worked right since I installed it."

"You replaced the system?"

The Quarian nodded. "You must be Auri's son. Zunal'Rey." He introduced extending his hand to him. "Call me Zuni."

"Callus Nov. Cal." He nodded giving him a firm handshake.

"Took me four days to replace it all." His mother's farm was not small so Nov believed him. He'd grown up working on the old system.

Nov chuckled. "That I believe. That last system was in for 20 years or more…about time it got replaced. Solar towers and the irrigation?"

The Quarian named Zuni nodded; he was tall and wore a suit colored a dusty grey and black. It wasn't unheard of to see Quarian's on Rylo, there were several families actually, and mostly ones who left pilgrimage and never went back others were exiled. There was a decent Asari population and surprisingly enough, Batarian. "Took a bit but yes. Your mother says you're a brilliant engineer."

Nov chuckled and nodded. "That's what they tell me. Why don't we just replace the coil?"

"Having trouble laying my hands on it." He replied. "Until then I just fix it."

"Is that what you do around here? Fix things?"

He nodded as Nov opened the panel on the tower. Toward the end of summer the dust was terrible and it was hard on the solar panels and the inner workings. "Yes. I keep Auri's equipment working and help her and the seasonal workers harvest."

A rover pulled up drawing their attention. Nov knew exactly who it was just by the look of the tan rover. The tall Turian that exited had dark green face paint from the mouth up, Rocam. "Your mother said you turned up." The familiar Turian shouted as he approached them.

"Darius," he grinned and gave the older Turian a hug. "how the hell are you?"

Darius Acadas was his mother's older brother and had spent over 30 years in the military doing god knows what before settling down with his family on Rylo. He was tall like all Turians with a broad, powerful build. He wore the colony paint of his ancestors, the Rocam green stood out when next to the bright red of Rylo. "Great," he replied and pushed back to appraise how Nov appeared. "heard you made Council Spectre, Boy, proud of you." Darius said and looked over to the Quarian. "Zuni, I see you've met my nephew."

"I did."

"This guy," Darius began and patted the Quarian's shoulder. "is the only one I've met who can hold a candle to your Tech skills, Kid." Darius usually never called him by his name. Normally it was 'Boy' or 'Kid'…hardly ever Cal or Callus unless he was getting admonished.

"Not that good apparently. Top of the line equipment but still have problems."

Nov shook his head. "No. It's just the coil." He said and the tower hummed to life. "Temporary fix but I think I can use my new found Council power to get a not so defective coil."

"He really is good." Zuni commented and Nov snorted.

"It's a gift." He chuckled.

"Joining us for dinner, Zuni?"

The Quarian shook his head. "No, but thank you for the offer and tell Auri I said good evening."

As the Quarian left Darius looked at his nephew, he'd had a rough past few years but he didn't know the exact reason. Nov had spoken to his mother about his issue and she kept his confidence. Darius only knew that it had to do with someone he loved. "So you made Spectre…who put your name in?"

Nov tapped a few more things on his omni-tool. "Nihlus Kryik." He answered and closed the access panel on the tower.

"Now that was a good Spectre, Saren was too before his brother was killed then everything went to hell." Darius commented and headed toward the house. There was a silence as Nov preferred not to comment on that. "Your mother said you brought a girl home." Nov didn't usually do that, for the reputation he had he was careful around family. "Serious?"

"I hope so." He smiled. Sidda was the one…he just hoped that she felt the same. "You're gonna love her." He knew his entire family was going to love her.

"Well, let's meet her then, Nephew." Darius prodded. "Oh and be aware… _they_ knew you are here. I told them to give you a day but rest assured you will be bombed tomorrow."

Nov chuckled, _they_ were his cousins…the closest things he had to siblings. "Thanks for the warning…give me time to draw up a battle plan." Darius laughed and they headed in the house.

Inside, Sidda and Auriga chatted in the kitchen. The home was designed that her disability wasn't an issue at all. "Have you cooked dextro food?" Auri asked and Sidda nodded.

"Some. More now with him, he likes to cook more than most people I know." She said and began to cut up the vegetables as instructed.

"Comes from being in the military so long, terrible rations." She told her and Sidda chuckled.

"That I understand. Any time I could get a kitchen and real food I took it." Sidda replied. "I've been in the military since I was 17. Grew up on bases and ships. What is this?"

"That one you can eat. It's like a carrot." She said and enjoyed the expression on Sidda's face when she tried it. Seemed like a cross between a carrot and a sweet potato. "I have a confession, Sidda," she began. "Cal told me about everything…everything that happened. I know you were killed when your ship was destroyed and that nearly killed my son. I also know that you were in a relationship with his commanding officer."

Sidda wasn't sure how she should feel about her comments. Her apparent death impacted a lot of people aside from her parents Victus and Nov took the brunt of it. "Umm…" she managed but didn't know how to proceed. There wasn't a judgmental tone in her voice but she didn't know what to say. "I…yeah." She said finally. "I did, Adrien was the first Turian I ever dated."

Auriga was still feeling her out and appreciated the honesty for what was clearly an uncomfortable topic. "But you're with Cal now…what happened?"

Auriga was doing what Sidda had expected, what all the cheap romance vids did, making sure no one was going to hurt her little boy. "Let's just say two years is a long time for someone to be dead. Cal was there for me…and has been there for me no matter what."

Auriga had been nervous for her son when she heard about the previous relationship with his former commanding officer. All those reservations disappeared when she heard her talk about him. "Just don't hurt him."

Nov was the best man she'd ever known; he was loyal, honest, and respectful. He'd also been there for her during the hardest times and aside from a little jealousy around Thane and Victus he was perfect. She remembered the message from Victus just before Toombs busted in…a message that she never responded to. She took his apology but found that nothing she could have sent back would have resulted in anything good.

Commotion in the living room drew their attention. Auriga had gotten what she needed from Sidda and Sidda actually felt at ease despite the honest conversation that was a little uncomfortable. Laughter and two male voices made Auriga chuckle and Sidda look over her shoulder. "The boys are here." His mother commented to her as she recognized both voices.

Sidda didn't and had no idea who the other voice was. "Hey." Nov said and appeared around the corner. "Hope you're not telling any embarrassing stories about me."

"Not yet." Auriga replied with a smirk. "You get the tower going?"

"Temporarily, need a new coil. Hey, when did you get a new neighbor?"

His mother cocked her head to him. "Two years ago." She answered with a snort. He'd been back within the last two years and hadn't noticed. "I see you met Zuni."

"Some Special Forces operative you are." A new Turian commented and Sidda put a face to the other laughing voice from the living room.

"Well, now the Spectres get him…lucky us." Sidda joked and his mother and the other Turian laughed.

"I like her." Auriga commented and Nov snorted.

"Me too." He winked and turned to the Turian behind him. "Sid, this is Darius Acadas my uncle." Nov introduced and Sidda became acutely aware that she knew nothing about his family except that he hated his now deceased father and that his mother was disabled.

Sidda offered the new Turian a smiled and extended her hand to him, the Human custom was a Turian one as well and he shook it. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Commander Shepard…first human Spectre." Darius said and didn't realize this was the woman his nephew brought home. "It's honor." Darius' military record stretched back to the First Contact War and beyond, he may have been out of the military now but he knew that the first human Spectre was a big deal. He watched it three years ago along with everyone else. "You didn't tell me she was the first human Spectre."

Nov snorted. "My apologies. Uncle Darius, this is Sidda Shepard, first human Spectre, and hero of the Battle of the Citadel." He said sarcastically.

Sidda giggled. "Snarky. Isn't he?"

Darius was impressed with Sidda and he'd only known her for a few minutes. "Careful, Captain." Darius chided.

"Yes, Admiral." Nov chuckled.

"Admiral?"

Darius nodded proudly. "Palaven Fleet Command for over 30 years." Fleet Command was their equivalent to a Navy; the _Lante_ was basically Marine run.

"He had Coronati's position 8 years ago." Nov clarified.

"Not only Fleet Command but boss of it all. Nice." She smiled and Darius was both surprised and appreciative of her knowledge of the Palaven military. Shepard was the Human officer that served on a Turian ship. He just didn't realize that it was Nov's ship.

* * *

Dinner was an interesting affair but it wasn't because there was an awkward silence, the opposite actually. The food was great, at least Sidda's was good but everyone seemed to be enjoying theirs as well, and the conversation wasn't stagnant.

None of them excluded the lone human at the table and it really helped that she was both military and had served on a Turian ship. It turned out that Darius was Fleet Admiral for almost 10 years until he retired 8 years ago, he was married with two kids and a granddaughter and it bothered Sidda that Nov never mentioned any of them. Auriga was also a delight, before becoming a full-fledged botanist she arrived for her boot camp training on her 15th birthday same as every Turian but during the physical she was given the medical exemption and sent home. She then went to the University on Rocam and met Tiber when she was 20 and he was still a soldier. As much as Cal disliked his father he never faulted him on how he treated his mother. Before her illness bound her to the chair he'd built the entire house just for her, designed for the inevitable handicap. He made sure that anything she wanted she got. It was heartwarming to hear her talk about it, and Nov didn't even scoff.

That night extra bedding and pillows were given to Sidda since Turian beds could be ungodly uncomfortable. Nov helped arrange the blankets and pillows and Sidda sighed.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked and her Turian lover grunted a response. "In the entire time I've known you –both alive and dead – I've only ever heard of the father you don't like and your mother who is disabled…why didn't you tell me about the rest?"

Nov fluffed the pillows and took a moment before answering. "Habit I guess."

Leave it to a male of any species to think that was a sufficient response. "Habit? Cal, come on."

Nov sighed. "My Uncle was one of the best known fleet commanders in the military but I'm a Nov, not an Acadas." Sidda's expression told him he needed to elaborate more. "Alright, you know that my father was not a favorite in the military. Protested a lot, questioned orders, disobeyed orders…supreme pain in the ass. The military kicked him out early just to get rid of him but his reputation didn't do me any favors. I had to prove myself, name dropping my Uncle could have blown back on him and ruined my career before it even started." He explained. "I just got so used to not talking about my family I just don't."

Sidda took his explanation and moved up to stand in front of him. He was so tall she craned her head back smiling up at him. "It's okay." She smiled happily. "I really like them. I am so happy you brought me here."

"I love you, Siddalee."

* * *

The next morning Sidda and Nov worked out the logistics of the shower, they were in his mother's house so she was trying hard to be respectful. Nov was hard to resist especially when he hauled her in the shower with him.

By the time Sidda had gotten down stairs she smelled food, after Nov left the shower he apparently put his cooking hat on and made breakfast. It was a huge turn on: men who could cook. "So that's where you went." She smiled and found him in the kitchen.

"Figured I'd let you get dressed without my help." He grinned. "There's juice over there you can drink." He pointed to the pitcher on the table.

"Okay, that is the thing I can't get used to. Turian planet, levo and dextro food…thought you could only get that on the Citadel or Illium." she said and poured a glass of what looked and tasted like Kiwi juice. It was good. "Oh my god…this is my new favorite. What the hell is this?"

"Kala. It's a tree fruit popular on Thessia…grows pretty well here."

Sidda smiled and took another drink of it. "Tastes like a Kiwi…but better."

Noise from the other room drew her attention and out of nowhere another Turian appeared in grand fashion. He grabbed Nov from behind and lifted him up. "Spectre Cal!" he yelled happily.

Nov didn't need to see who it was who grabbed him and lifted him up off the ground that was easy to figure out. It was cousin number one of the _they_ that Darius has mentioned the day before. "Oh…" he grunted as he didn't let go of the pan and spatula he was still holding. The grip from his cousin hurt his ribs. "damn, Pol, put me down."

Sidda watched the exchange which included the biggest Turian she had ever seen in her life. To most Humans Turian's all looked alike and Sidda had thought that before the _Lante_. It was more than just face paint and skin tones it was builds and body types as well. Looking back on the _Lante_ she saw all the differences now. Kalvaris was long and lean where Nov and Victus were the tall and broad equivalent to the 6'2" well-muscled Human male. This one was taller than Nov and built broader than Ruvvak.

"Fuck, Pol, did you get taller?" Nov asked as he gave his cousin a firm handshake.

Pollux Acadas was easily seven feet tall and had a huge build, he wore the same Rocam green facepaint with grey skin and the same amber eyes Nov had and a scar under his fringe on the back of his head. "Maybe. That or you are just still small." He replied. "Who's the Human?" he asked as blunt and politically incorrect as he ever was.

Sidda raised an eyebrow and Nov paused briefly with stirring the stir fry he'd put together with meat and vegetables. "Uhh, the human's name is Sidda." She told him and Nov chuckled to her response to his cousin. She didn't need any help, she'd survived Cerrus.

Pollux looked at the tiny human in front of him and her extended hand. "Sid, this is my cousin Pollux."

He hesitated before accepting her hand and gave it a firm shake. "You are the tallest Turian I have ever met." She thought Nov was tall at 6'7" and he was taller than Victus, Cerrus, Garrus, and Maridus.

"We're all tall." He replied in what sound like a tone reserved for someone that you didn't like but patronized anyway. "How many Turians do you know?"

Sidda gave him a slight cant of her head. So far everyone she met didn't have an issue with her…except this one. "Served on a ship full of them, how many to do you know?" she responded and Nov grinned. Sidda could stand up anyone…even a seven foot Turian.

She couldn't tell if Pollux was offended or just testing her but he looked to Nov with a nod. "I like her."

"I don't think he wants your approval, Pol." A female said and walked to the group. "Don't mind him," she said to Sidda. "he likes to think he's the alpha but that's always belonged to Callus. That and it's hard to be the alpha when you're the youngest. Favia Vibiion."

This was cousin number two of the _they_ Darius had mention. "My other cousin." Nov added.

Favia actually wore the same colony paint that Garrus and Maridus did; she was 5'10, with the same grey skin as her brother but had eyes that looked silver. "Sidda Shepard."

"You gonna make enough for all of us, Cal?" Favia inquired in a sibling teasing tone.

"Alright, everybody but Sid get out." He replied as the kitchen had gotten way too crowded.

"Oh no, no." Favia interrupted. "You, Dear Cousin, make food…the ladies shall talk." She said and took Sidda away and off toward the living room.

Nov served everyone breakfast and had to listen to his mother and Favia 'ooo and ahh' over the fact that he made a separate dish for Sidda. And there on the back porch of his Mother's home they ate like one big family that you read about or saw in vids.

"Where's Aunt Lyta?" Nov asked Darius as he tried to steer the conversation away from Favia and Pollux trying to embarrass the hell out of him with stories that should never be told.

"She's on Palaven. Should be back at the end of the week." Darius answered. Amilyta Acadas was Darius' wife and a military historian. They'd met when she was writing her thesis and asked the military for combat officers she could interview, Darius was her first victim. They married two years later and for a while she followed him from assignment to assignment until she got pregnant and settled on Rylo to be near some form of family. The colony agreed with her and she put down roots. "She'd love to meet you, Sidda...she'll talk your ear off about military history. You being the first human Spectre is going to drive her crazy."

"I would love to meet her." Sidda replied and it wasn't just a line to be polite. So far she fit so well into this family it was actually a little spooky.

"Fav, where's Kaius these days?" Nov asked wondering where the other missing members were. Kaius Vibiion was her mate and still active duty military. He and Favia met when she was a Public Relations officer trying to smooth over ruffled feathers after an operation pissed a lot of people off. They got married and she was given the special dispensation to come off active duty when she had their daughter Nisia, technically Favia was a reservist.

"Somewhere I'm not supposed to know about." She replied flatly. Kaius was an Intelligence operative...a spy like Desala…when he dropped off the map it meant only one thing.

Sidda looked around the table and found the rowdiest one from the kitchen was the quietest one at the table for breakfast. "So you were Public Relations, your husband is PIC," she gestured to Favia sitting next to her then looked at Darius. "you were the boss of it all, and he's a Spectre now…Pollux what did you do in the military?"

Pollux was across from her next to Auriga and paused from his drink. "Front line soldier on the ground and boarding party on ships," he said quickly. "I'm still active duty just on extended leave."

Extended leave could have meant a few things: high mission rate, extended duty without a break, or family/medical. She wasn't sure what his reason was and didn't know if she was permitted to ask. Luckily, Favia read her mind. "He took a round to the back of his head one his last assignment."

Sidda hadn't expected that but it explained the scar on the back of his head and she gave Pollux the expression he was used to when people learned he'd been shot in the back of the head. "Peacekeeping mission went ass up. A Turian merc managed to get up behind me and pulled the trigger. Punched through my shields but my armor slowed it down enough it didn't kill me." He explained and Sidda found herself speechless. "I also sent Armax Arsenal a very sincere thank you note and an image of my helmet."

Sidda knew a thing or two about near death and actual death, armor hadn't saved her when she was spaced but it did well enough to give Cerberus a shot at resurrecting her. Good armor was hard to find but it wasn't where you skimped. She'd learned that the hard way a few times.

She spent the rest of the morning watching Nov spar with Pollux and Darius. It looked like they were taking it easy on Pollux more than likely due to the head injury but according to Favia her brother was in good shape. He was in good shape, Darius had been training with him once he was cleared for physical exertion, now with Nov there Pollux had a chance to step up the physical therapy.

"They'll do this all day." Favia commented, sparring was a necessity for her not a pastime.

"Oh, don't I know that. Cal loves to spare."

"I don't…sparred with Pol my entire life I would rather not do it for sport." She said as Nov demonstrated a very nice takedown on his Uncle. Sidda cocked her head and smiled to how sexy he looked, she loved watching him spar. Favia saw the expression. "So what do humans find attractive in Turians?"

Sidda blinked and stammered. She was a bit surprised with the question but not put off. "Umm…I don't know. Part of it's the danger, the unknown…it's different. It's not all different. Same sense of humor, same jokes, little bit more exotic danger, and it's that whole predator/prey thing."

Favia chuckled, that wasn't the first time that the Turian predatory look made females across the species' swoon. "That's that same thing his former girlfriend said."

Sidda cocked her head. "You met Shala?"

Favia nodded. "On Palaven a few years ago. You are far more interesting that she was."

"Sid," Nov called. "your turn."

"The Human?" Pollux questioned.

Nov let his irritation show. "That Human can give me a run for my money and if you keep calling her that I'll give you another head injury." He warned with a growl. Jokes were jokes but he couldn't tell if it was that or Pollux being his typical no-filter self. Either way he put an abrupt end to it.

* * *

The rest of Sidda's day was spent with Favia in the capital city of Rosha and when she returned to the house Nov had ushered her into the land rover with no other explanation other than 'let's go'.

The land rover sped over the dirt road for a longtime before Sidda spoke. "Are you taking me all the way out here to kill me?" she asked and Nov chuckled.

"Why would I want to do that, Baby, I haven't finished playing with you yet." He purred with a noticeable wink.

By the time they'd gotten to their destination the sun had almost completely set. The sunset was not the reason why he's brought her to the ridge. Rylo sunsets were beautiful but it was what came after that was the real beauty. "Cal, what are we doing here?" Sidda asked as she stretched her legs.

"You'll see." He said and hopped up on the hood of the rover. "Come on, get up here."

"Alright, I'm curious." She shrugged and climbed up with him.

"This was my favorite place when I was growing up…still is." He told her. "The sunsets here are the best but that is the real show." He went on and gestured to green and purple lights lining the darkening sky.

Sidda blinked and smiled to what she was seeing. "The Auroras…" she said as she looked in awe at the magnetic phenomenon. Nov gave her a look and she explained. "That's what they call it on Earth. Solar winds against the electromagnetic field?"

Nov nodded. "Happens all the time here especially in the summer. It'll go on for hours and hours and when it goes away the clearest and brightest star field you could imagine."

"You love it here." She smiled as she made that observation.

It was a true statement, he did love it here but it wasn't always so. It was only after he left he realized he loved it. "Yeah. When I was a kid I couldn't wait to get the hell out of here. Nothing to do here but get in trouble…at least that's what my parents figured." He said and she leaned again him. "Headed off to Boot Camp…a few years later all I wanted to do was come home. When I finally did come home my Dad kicked me out."

Seeing him with his mother told her that he did love his family even though it wasn't always good. She saw a photo of Nov's father and agreed that Cal looked exactly like Tiber. "Beautiful." She smiled and looked up at the sky. It got dark quickly on this planet and before she knew it Nov was right, the star field behind the brilliant lights.

Nov had no idea how to ask her what he wanted to. Fear gripped him all of the sudden to the point that his brain wouldn't let him talk. They were quiet for a few minutes as he tried to figure out how to proceed. "Marry me." He said finally after getting over his all of the sudden crippling fear.

Sidda blinked to his question and felt like she needed to bolt for a second. "What?"

It wasn't as tactful as he would have liked but there was no putting the genie back in the bottle. "The vids always show Human males down on one knee doing this." He admitted and he started to shift as if to get off the Rover.

Sidda was stunned but heard enough of it to snap back to reality. "Callus Nov, you get down on one knee I will shoot you."

Nov chuckled and wasn't offended by what she said. He did slide off the rover and moved around to stand in front of her. "I had a jeweler make this on the Citadel. Joker said it was a tradition to give an engagement ring." He said and took a silver ring from his pocket. "I told him it was for a Human but I wanted a Turian flair." There was no stone in the ring but it was engraved with a distinct Turian pattern along with Turian script.

"What's it say?" she asked as the shock of it all began to wear off. This was it, he was proposing.

"It says 'I love you'. Generic I know but…Sidda, I love you." He confessed but it wasn't like it was something he had to tell her. It wasn't a secret…not anymore. "I love you more and more each day…I don't know what I'd do without you." He said and could see that she was a little apprehensive. She'd given their relationship a chance and it had gone better than anticipated, the Suicide Mission was in the past, the Collectors were stopped, and their relationship was still strong. "I want to spend a lifetime with you; I want to know what you'd look like during the wedding ceremony, what a Turian-Human baby looks like. You're my mate, Sidda, there will never be anyone else but you."

Sidda's throat was dry and her heart was being so fast she knew he could probably hear it. Nov had been there though it all…good and bad…and he'd saved her life more than once. There was no other decision. "Yes." She answered and it wasn't until she said it that the reality of it hit her. "Yes, Cal."

Nov let out a breath he'd been holding and chuckled with relief. "Oh, good…for a second there I thought you'd say no." he said and remembered which finger Joker told him to put it on.

"Never." She replied sweetly and kissed him quickly before moving her mouth to his right ear. "You're mine now, Casanova." She purred provocatively.

He growled and bit her neck lightly then tried not to think about the fact that he was about to have sex on the hood of his mother's rover.

* * *

Later that evening, Nov and Sidda came back to a full house, she wasn't sure if it was because of them or if it was just business as usual. She wondered that right up until the point Nov announced that he had an announcement. She wasn't sure how to take this and her nerves were hard to hide as suddenly all eyes were on them.

"Sidda and I have an announcement to make." He said and Sidda fidgeted. "We're getting married." he said after a pause needed to get his nerves in order.

"What'd I tell you?" Darius commented to his sister as the whole room spread their congratulations.

The reaction from the target audience lifted the weight from Sidda's shoulders. As much as she'd been welcomed into his family she was afraid of what their opinion would be. But as she looked at the faces everyone, including Pollux, was happy.

It was congratulations all around and Auriga even pulled out some champagne for a toast. "That's dextro." Pollux commented as Sidda took a sip of the alcohol.

It wasn't what she was used to; the Brandy was what Victus liked so it was what she had acquired a taste for. Dextro drinks were sweeter, this wasn't as sweet but it was okay. "I can handle it." She said and still wasn't sure if Pollux approved or even liked her.

He leaned back against the couch and became considerably shorter but still tall as hell. He tapped his glass to hers and gave her a nod. "Welcome to the family, Little Human." He said and Sidda snorted.

"Thanks, Big Ass Turian." She replied in kind making them both chuckle. It was then that Sidda figured out Pollux, he was blunt and didn't apologize for it, but he wasn't mean. He came off as judgmental and rude but here, right now, he was welcoming her into his family.

"You really want to join this circus?" Darius asked and appeared next to Sidda with a smile on his face.

"Hey, I've heard horror stories about people meeting the family and have to say that this is the best outcome that I could have thought of." She chuckled and looked around the room to Nov playing with his niece, Nisia.

"We've been pushing him to settle down for a long time." Darius said. "He's never brought anyone home until you. Now I just need to get this one a family."

Pollux took a long drink and scoffed with a shake of his head. "Keep dreaming." He said with a snort. "I'll stay in the military." Pollux wasn't interested in a long term relationship; he intended to remain in the military for as long as he could.

* * *

Later that night Sidda crawled into bed with her new fiancé. It felt surreal and she even felt like it was a dream. She was engaged…something that she'd pretty much given up on over the years. Work had always kept her occupied and then dying pretty much ruined the rest of it. Victus was the most promising relationship but he literally to her that he'd never marry again…then she died. In Nov, however, she found someone that she believed would never leave her. Ever. She thought about the future, the future with him. A family with him and it didn't scare her.

"Did you mean what you said?" she asked as she settled into his arms in bed.

"Might need to be more specific, Love." He replied quietly and tapped the pad in his hand to move to the next page.

She pulled the blanket up over her and snuggled to him. "About a Turian-Human baby…you really want a baby with me?" she asked and Nov put the pad down.

"Yes I do." He answered and pulled her tight against him. "I want more than one."

He surprised her more and more. "I think biology might have a little something to say about that." She said. To her knowledge there had never been a Turian-Human child, the only dextro and levo pairing that had been successful were Asari and Turian but that didn't really count.

"Maybe." He said and didn't need to see her face to know that he needed to explain further. "I may have asked a few preemptive questions about it to Mordin."

Nov had put a lot more thought into this then she realized, she actually wondered how long he'd been working on the proposal. "Really?"

"Yeah. He said it would be difficult but not impossible." He said. "Are you alright with that?"

Strangely, she was and was pretty sure Nov could hear her heartbeat increase when she thought about it. "Yes." She replied honestly. "Although I don't think the universe is prepared for mini Callus Nov's. Females of all species are in enough trouble as it is with just one of you out there."

He laughed. She was teasing him and he loved every minute of it, he couldn't have been more certain of asking her to marry him then he was right now.

* * *

Nov heard the Omni-tool chirping but it wasn't his. Sidda was in such a deep, content sleep she didn't hear her Omni-tool beeping. It was the middle of the night so it must have been important. "Yeah?" he answered with a groggy voice and flipped the desk lamp on.

" _Hey, Cal, sorry…I need to talk to Shepard."_ Joker said and Nov nodded with a yawn.

"Yeah, hang on." He replied and muted the messenger. "Sidda," he said softly gently waking her up. "wake up. Joker's on the line."

Sidda was groggy but woke up to his quiet voice. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. Here."

"Joker?"

" _Sorry to bother you, Commander, but I have an urgent message from Illium…it's about Liara."_

Two hours later, they were back on the _Normandy_ and headed for the Asari planet. "Cal, I'm sorry." She apologized. The vacation he'd taken her on was heaven so far and now it got cut short.

"Don't worry about it." He replied and laughed as Sidda practically melted into her bed. The issue with this relationship was going to be the bed. "Take care of Illium then go back."

Sidda purred, that sounded like a plan. "Can't wait to see what Turian wedding plans look like."

Turian weddings ranged from easy to elaborate same as anywhere else except Salarians. "That depends on how formal you want it." Nov said and climbed into bed with her. They had 5 hours before they reached Illium so they fell asleep.

* * *

Nov had spent nearly as much time on Illium as he had on Thessia. He knew his way around Nos Astra and Sidda giggled. The Asari lover in him was still there but his eyes were for her only he did his best to not wink and flirt with any of the Asari who giggled and blushed when they spoke to him. The galaxy was definitely not read for his offspring. Liara had settled in as probably the best information broker on Illium, she was a very influential and power person now. Quite a long way from the Archeologist trapped in a Prothean ruin on Therum.

Liara was going after the Shadow Broker; Sidda had passed her intelligence that came from Cerberus before she burned that bridge to the ground. It took some time but Liara finally had what she needed. A Salarian informant named Sekat, he found some possibilities where the Shadown Broker was hiding. The reason why she was looking was the bigger issue. Cerberus never told her where or how they had acquired her body. It turned out that it was Liara. The Broker was contracted by the Collectors to recover her body for the Reapers which was quite possibly the most unnerving thought Sidda had ever had. Liara was hunting for her body for Cerberus and crossed paths with Feron, a Drell operative for the Shadow Broker. In the end Feron gave Sidda to Liara and Liara gave Sidda to Cerberus with the knowledge that they could bring her back to life.

Nov didn't hear much more after Liara's confession that she turned Sidda's body over to Cerberus. "I asked you!" he growled angrily and stalked toward her in the threatening way that was usually reserved for an enemy. "I stood here over a year ago with Victus and fucking asked you point blank if you knew where her body was!"

Liara couldn't help but squeak and backed away from the angry Turian. "I'm sorry-…"

It was inches from her and had somehow turned into a looming, domineering figure. "Sorry!?" he roared. "I asked you to help me find her body and you told me you didn't know where it was! I asked you again and again and you LIED to me! Lied to Victus!" No matter how Nov felt about the way Victus treated Sidda upon her return he was there to see how crushed the man was after she died.

"Cal," Sidda warned as even she didn't like his body language. "what are you talking about?"

"When the Alliance couldn't locate your body in orbit of Alchera or on the surface in the wreckage we knew - even the Alliance knew - that something wasn't right." He barked angrily. "Victus and I came to her…the information broker and your friend."

Sidda saw his anger and why he was angry. She didn't even want to know how Victus would be reacting right now. "Cal, back off."

"No!" he shouted back loudly in a vicious tone.

"Cal!" she warned in a harsher tone but he ignored her.

"I'm sorry, Cal," Liara apologized trying to get herself away from the angry Turian looming over her. "I was trying to protect you and Adrien." She explained quickly. "If the wrong people found out that Cerberus had her body…"

"Bullshit!" he snapped.

"Cal, I mean it! Back off." Sidda ordered and pushed him back from her to get between them.

He stepped back and cooled his anger to a point. "I'm gonna go before I do something can't undo." He snarled with a pointed glare to Liara. Nov wasn't a violent man but he was angry and felt betrayed.

"Cal-…"

"No. I am not going to help her and you shouldn't either." He said and turned to walk away before she stopped him. "I'll be on the _Normandy_."

Sidda sighed heavily; Nov was everything she could have wanted in a man, strong, sexy, protective, vulnerable, and the most stubborn son of a bitch in the galaxy. "Shepard, I'm sorry." Liara said and Sidda turned to her. "I did lie to him and to Victus but that was only because I didn't know if Cerberus would be able to live up to what they had promised."

The explanation rang hollow but if it came down to Cerberus and the Reapers she was glad Liara was there to make sure she landed with the one that wasn't trying to annihilate the known galaxy. "It's fine." She said quickly. It wasn't but she'd sort that out later.

* * *

Nov didn't go to the _Normandy_ he went to Eternity instead. It had been a while since he'd been there and a lot had changed. The last time he was here he'd slept with the bartender and another girl in an alcohol fueled threesome, shore leave done right according to him when he returned to the _Lante._ Right now he wasn't interested in anyone else besides Sidda and sat down at the bar with an irritated growl. The bartender this time was someone he didn't know; she was pretty and a matriarch. Most people couldn't tell the difference but he had an intimate knowledge of the maidens, matrons, and matriarchs…he'd slept with all of them. Matrons were his favorite.

"Oh, Babe, you are going to make a killing here." She said and poured him the drink he asked for.

"Really?" he asked as he looked her up and down. Matriarchs were fully developed, curvy, and fucking beautiful…this one was not any different. He'd also made a game of trying to tell the pairings for most Asari he'd met and had gotten pretty good at it. No one could ever pin down and exact trademark or species trait but his guessing game was used as foreplay or a great icebreaker in a bar. He guessed Krogan or Elcor for this one.

"Tall, broad, long fringe…but it's those amber eyes they'll lose their minds over." She told him and Nov actually blushed. "Name's Aethyta, Babe."

"Cal."

"Welcome to Eternity, Cal. What's got you all pissed off?" she asked and he cocked his head. "I've seen enough angry Turian's to see the difference."

"My betrothed trusts someone she really shouldn't." he said and downed the drink then asked for another.

She poured him another. "That's why you're here with a black cloud over your head?"

"She's been through enough already." He replied and couldn't help but feel like his anger forced him to abandon her. "What about you? What's a Matriarch doing working as a bartender?"

"What makes you think I'm a Matriarch?"

Nov winked. "Experience." The older and Asari got the better lovers they were. Practice makes perfect but they were also more patient.

"Oh, you're one of them." Aethyta snorted. "An Asari lover."

He shrugged. "Up until recently pretty much exclusively but you didn't answer my question."

"No one on Thessia wanted to listen to my ideas so here I am, Babe." She answered and poured him another drink. "So your betrothed, she Asari?"

He shook his head. "Human." He answered and his omni-tool vibrated, it was Sidda and he didn't want to talk right now. Liara was someone he begged for help from and she lied to him. Now Sidda was going to help her despite it. He didn't want to fight so he ignored it.

Nov wasn't there to get drunk, he was there to cool off and then return to the _Normandy_ until still was done with whatever it was she was doing. He'd only been there a half hour when the news feed changed. An explosion at Dracon Tower was being called a terrorist attack; Baria Frontiers seemed to be an intended target. Nov's heart plummeted to his stomach and he actually listened to the message sent from Sidda. Someone had attacked Liara at her apartment and then headed to Dracon Tower, Sidda was looking for him and he ignored the message. "Fuck!" he cursed and ran out the door. How could he have been so careless? He was going to marry Sidda and he ignored her request for help because he was mad.

* * *

Dracon Tower lost three floors to a bomb and Illium Police and EMS were responding to the myriad of injuries. Reports of people entering the Tower flooded the news there was even reports of Spectres being on the scene. Spectres, plural. Nov wasn't happy with any of this and had EDI track Sidda to the Dracon Tower plaza.

Sidda, Tali, and Jack chased Liara at least trying to keep up. Vasir was the Shadow Broker agent that had tried to kill Liara and then all three of them. They lost her in the plaza she took off in a Skycar. "She's getting away!" Liara shouted and Sidda looked up to see another Skycar drop down. It was Nov. He had the most spot on timing in existence; he'd arrived with a skycar just as soon as Vasir took off. "Come on!" he shouted as the door opened for the three of them. "Get in!"

"What are you doing here?" Liara asked as she hesitated before getting in.

Typical Liara, she had to question everything and that included his fortuitous arrival. "Helping you against my better judgement now get in the car a shut up."

The Asari scoffed loudly but wasn't about to turn him away. "Jack, come on!" Sidda shouted from the front passenger seat. "Tali-…"

"I'll help tend to the wounded here." The Quarian said back as the three ladies piled in the car with Nov at the helm.

"Don't lose her!" Liara barked from the seat behind Nov.

He was still angry with her and it showed. "Really? No shit!"

"Come on guys, don't fight." Sidda said and gripped the handle on the door as Nov gunned the speed in the car. Nov was an insane pilot and Sidda thought that she'd experienced it all with him at the helm of the highly maneuverable Hammerhead…she was wrong. She trusted him but the thrill seeker in him was making her clutch the seat in panic.

"Cal." She warned nervously as he came far too close to several cars in both right way and wrong way traffic. "Cal."

"I see it." He replied and concentrated on the oncoming knot of traffic.

He may have seen it but she wasn't confident in what he was going to do about it. "Cal…Cal, look out."

Nov wasn't sure who was worse, Sidda or Liara. "I. See. It." He said and she nearly covered her eyes.

"One piece please. One piece." She snapped back.

The Mako drop on Rothla came to mind. Sidda liked to side-seat drive. "I am in control here. We're fine. Stop side-seat driving."

"There! Make a right." Liara ordered and in his right ear leaning over his shoulder.

Nov was annoyed but he did make a right. "Will you get out of my ear?"

"Make the right!" Liara barked and the car jerked to the right sharp enough to make Liara sit back down and slide into Jack.

"I did. Now sit down!"

Sidda had to hand it to Nov, with all the bullshit happening inside the car and the pandemonium outside the car he remained focused. Liara hovering in his ear aside he managed to dodge it all: buildings, cars, trucks, wrecks, construction zones…and proximity mines.

"Proximity mines on a skycar? What the fuck?" Nov snapped and narrowly dodged one that made the skycar rock after it exploded on the right.

"Hey, Jeeves, try not get us all fucking killed." Jack put it and Nov shrugged with a shake of his head. His car ride was now complete. He loved being surrounded by females however right now the only one he didn't want to strangle was Sidda and up until five seconds ago, Jack.

Vasir's luck finally ran out in the form of a head on collision, her skycar went down in flames onto the roof of a hotel. "Well that ought it do it." He muttered and set the car down as close as he could to Vasir's car.

After fending off about 400 waves of bad guys the four of them pressed forward following a blood trail left by Vasir, clearly injured in her crash. "Ahh…Azure." Nov commented, it was hard to determine where they had landed until he saw a room. "When did they redo the roof?"

"Almost a year ago after a crash." Liara answered.

"You've spent time here, I take it?" Sidda asked her Turian playboy.

"Oh yes…lot of fond memories here…and some I don't remember." He told her.

Sidda shook her head and snorted. "Whore."

Tracking Vasir was easy, the blood trail was helpful but once they found her not only did they need to fight her but every single freelance mercenary on Illium. At this point they all knew that Vasir was desperately trying to get out of this alive. She was throwing everything at them that she could think of but was clearly having trouble. It was hard to square off against a vanguard no matter how good a soldier you were. Sidda seemed to have it figured out and Nov watched as she managed to get Vasir down. She matched the fellow Spectre move for move after they'd disarmed each other. The brilliant biotic blue lightshow showed off just what kind of fighter Sidda was under that unassuming Human exterior and Vasir began to succumb to her injuries. Her deathbed confession only confirmed what they had already known but Nov was more impressed with his choice in mates. Sidda took down a vanguard Spectre and did it in style.

Back on the _Normandy_ they were bound for a planet called Hagalaz…apparently it was the Broker's main base. Bruises were forming from impacts under the armor and Nov grimaced to a particularly sore spot on his good shoulder.

Sidda made a face and saw his skin beginning to discolor. Vasir hit him nearly head on with a biotic charge and practically crushed him into the wall of the building. Jack then released her insane biotic power and drove the Asari away so Nov could recover. "Damn…you okay?"

"Yeah…that building wall really had it coming." He joked and turned toward her. "Jack had some seriously good timing. But you…you were impressive." He winked. "Watching you take down Vasir was hot."

She smiled to his flirting and moved to him with a sultry expression. "So were you." She said and put her arms around him. "After you left Liara you didn't go to the _Normandy_ , where did you go?"

"Eternity." He replied truthfully. "Old haunt of mine…I was pissed off and wanted a drink."

Sidda nodded and bit his neck lightly before moving away from him. They didn't have time to play, Hagalaz wasn't far away and they both needed a rest. "You were really hard on Liara." She said and Nov simply shrugged. "I mean really hard on her."

"And?"

Sidda wanted to lay down and sleep and had pulled the covers back on the bed. "Come on, Cal-…"

He cut her off with a snap. "No. She lied to us." He reined in his tone and started again. "She lied to me, lied to Victus." He said with a gentler tone and Sidda sighed.

Part of her understood why Liara did what she did and was grateful for it, Nov should have been too. Without Cerberus she wouldn't be here. "It's not her fault."

The topic was annoying him and it showed. "Yeah, actually, it is. You have no idea what it was like, Sid. I trusted Liara to help me and she lied to me. As far as I am concerned she'll never get my help again and I'll never ask her for help again."

"Cal…"

He had moved over to the other side of the bed and fluffed the pillow he was going to use. "I'm done talking about this, Sid." He snapped with a firm tone. "Period."

* * *

In a word Hagalaz sucked. The worst environment imaginable and they weren't even on the planet surface. They were in the atmosphere, circling the planet in its constant storm. It reminded him of Hostile Environment training on Impera only exponentially worse. The Shadow Brokers ship was a technological marvel and a fucking deathtrap. If the endless supply of mercenaries didn't do them in the ship and all its lightning rods would. Nov saved Liara twice when a bolt hit her they pressed on. Once inside it became easier without the lingering threat of plummeting to their deaths off the side of the ship but it was easier to fight the mercenaries when corridors nullified their numbers. Nov, Sidda, and Liara – no matter their feelings toward each other at the moment – had worked together before and they fell into old habits. Liara may not have started as a soldier but after training with Sidda and with Cerrus she knew a thing or two now.

To free Feron, who was a guest of the Broker's torture chamber, they had to meet the man himself. Coming face to face with the Shadow Broker was like a myth or a lore coming to life. The Broker was the like the Boogeyman of the galaxy, no one knew who it was, what it looked like, or even if it was real. Looking at the monster behind the desk told Nov that it was very much real and a nightmare. Nov had read over Spectre archives and reports and made an educated guess as to what this creature was. A Yahg. _"Fuck."_ He thought to himself as the monster was done listening to Liara explain to him that she understood his game.

Nov hit the pillar hard enough under the slab of metal that hit him knowing that he'd broken something. Even through the armor he felt it and heard it but his mental accounting of his injuries didn't get far before he blacked out. The girls were going to have a hard time with that one.

* * *

It took a moment for Nov to register the pain in his body when his eyes opened. He saw the ceiling of the _Normandy_ Medical Bay; he was out of his armor and could feel some sort of pain killer swimming in his system but not nearly enough apparently. Every breath he took hurt like a bitch so he registered the broken ribs.

"Hey, Badass," Sidda greeted appearing next to him with a sweet smile on her face. "how you feeling?"

He was elated to see her and felt that relief from what he remembered last, that fucking monster rendering him useless in less than a second. "Oww." He managed out but it sounded like a whimper.

"Try not to move too much, Callus." Chakwas instructed as he began to squirm in the bed. "You have a concussion, four broken ribs, and three very bruised vertebra. Your armor saved your life." She said and arrived on the opposite side. "Bone healers should take care of the ribs but you will be very tender for a few weeks. Now…tell me what I'm doing?" she said and poked his legs with a metal instrument.

"Poking my thigh." He replied realizing she was testing his sensation. She moved down his leg and repeated it then the same on the other side. "It was that bad?"

Chakwas shook her head slightly. "No. Just a lot of swelling I couldn't test until you were awake. Be still for a few more hours, give the bone healers more time to work then you need to be _very_ gentle with yourself."

"I'll try to remember that." He commented and directed his attention to Sidda. "What happened…the Broker…"

Sidda had hovered since they brought him back to the _Normandy._ Nov was tough so for him to be that banged up explained just how lucky they were to be alive after that encounter. "Dead and buried."

"How?

Sidda and Liara worked together to turn the Yahg into dust. They were all sore and beat to hell but Nov had taken the worst of it. "Don't go against two highly pissed off biotics." She replied and held up a deck of cards.

He chuckled and regretted it as his chest protested the muscle movement over the broken bones. "Keep the tradition alive…though this should be your turn and not mine this time."

She began to shuffle the cars and pushed all of her worry aside. He responded better to jokes and smiles then worries and frowns. "Wishing hospitalizing peril on your fiancée…smooth move, Mr. Charm."

Nov wasn't stupid and knew what she was doing. The fact that she was here, always near when he was hurt, told him what he needed to know. "How's Liara?"

Sidda allowed a small smile, he was mad at her but he cared. "Oh she's fine…has a new job though. We have the inside line on the new Shadow Broker."

"Liara's the new Shadow Broker? Oh, swell, nothing bad can happen there." He droned and picked up the cards rather clumsily. "Full House." He told her immediately very amused with the fact she'd dealt him a winning hand right off the bat. It was possible her hand was better but not very probable.

Sidda has just barely looked at her cards, which were pitiful, when he announced his hand. "What the fuck!?"

* * *

 _ **Note: Yes...you may all now start screaming.**_

 _ **Music for this chapter is: My Maria by Brooks n Dunn, Far Away by Nickelback, and Blurry by Puddle of Mudd**_


End file.
